Identity
by Mimi-Love-4ever
Summary: An information leakage at the dangerous Volturi Corporation has put Bella Swan and her mother in danger. Forced to move in with her father she finds that keeping her identity a secret from those she loves is easier said than done. ALL HUMAN.  Temporary hiatus as of 08/26/12
1. Preface

**Hey guys! Welcome to the new readers and welcome to those readers from Your Guardian Angel. I'm back! Anywho, hope you enjoy my latest story. **

**Before that, I want to give a whole lot of love to my seriously awesome beta Kris (kejce). She makes my chapters look good. :D **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. I do own the plot and some characters though. :)**

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**Preface: **

**_Edward _**

_Ring._ I shouted in my thoughts anxiously. _Ring. Please, ring_.

The thin piece of technology lay on the kitchen table, silent and unused; mocking me. My short nails were digging into the palm of my hand due to the tension humming through my body. I wouldn't be surprised if I drew blood. Knowing there was nothing I could, I broke the staring contest with my phone. Anger and restlessness, my near constant companions, roiled within me. Here I was without the ability to do anything and there was everything else, moving on despite my protest. In an effort to distract myself, if only for a few seconds, I began pacing back and forth in front of the table. My body still thrummed with activity and pacing seemed the better outlet than throwing whatever object was near me. Only the sound of my repetitive steps echoing off the walls in the spacious kitchen kept me company.

Somewhere upstairs faint cries trickled in through the ventilation shafts. I knew them to be my sister's. The realization that it was her set off a startling reaction in me. This situation was real and not a dream from which I could wake up. My beautiful Bella was gone, ripped away from me, and I had been powerless to stop them.

"Bella," I whispered in sorrow. The sound of my heart breaking stopped my pacing. Her name barely left my lips when the auto-tone ringing of my cell phone started. Suddenly no sound had ever been more cherished. I dived across the wooden chairs, ignoring them as they clattered to the ground, and slid my phone open. "Bella?"

Static met my breathless question before the voice I knew so well came on, "Edward."

The greatest sense of relief lightened the burden in my chest. It had been exactly one week ago since I heard her voice and the last things we said to each other weren't what I wanted to remember. That day _I_ had been the only one doing the talking and I had accused her of something that wasn't true while Bella cried. I had been wrong and I was going absolutely crazy trying to make things better. Hearing Bella's voice was confirmation enough that she was alive. Alive. For how long, though?

"Bella, where are you?" I asked with a half yell.

Before she could answer, heavy footsteps thundered outside the kitchen and then the swinging door being pushed open slowly. Without hesitating, I ran through the back door that led to the yard, narrowly escaping detection. I couldn't risk the wrong person finding out I was talking with Bella, even in my own home.

"Edward, don't come looking for me," Bella said moments later.

My body chilled to its core at her request. Her voice was filled with sadness and pain; it made my already aching heart plummet further to the ground in hurt. I fell to my knees clutching my phone tightly. I didn't feel strong enough to face this.

"What?" I choked out disbelievingly. "No, I'm coming for you. I won't let you get hurt!"

"I know, sweetheart. I know," she cried softly. "Please, just remember that I love you and I wouldn't change anything about our story."

Silent tears ran down my cheeks at her words. I couldn't hold them back anymore, as cold rain descended from the dark sky above. Chills wracked my soaked body, but I could care less. The girl of my dreams was basically telling me to abandon her to the mercy of those men. I couldn't, and wouldn't. No matter how many times I told Bella I'd follow through with every request she presented me with. This was one I could not bring myself to follow through with. This was about her life, for Pete's sake!

"You!" A rough voice shouted in the background on the other side, breaking my tumultuous thoughts and catching my attention.

"Crap!" Bella exclaimed at the same time I heard my sister shout my name from the house.

"I love you, Edward," Bella rushed. Her words were sincere nonetheless. Too sincere. "I'm sorry for causing you pain and putting your friends and family in danger."

"I love you too, Bella!" I shouted into the phone, feeling a sense of dread settle in the pit of my stomach. "Bella!"

There was a small cry followed by something hitting the floor before the line clicked. Etched into my brain was the deal dial tone. I let my cell slip from my numb fingers and land on the muddy ground below me. I clenched my eyes shut and hoped once again this was a nightmare from which I would wake up from. Loud thunder cracked overhead while I realized the reality of it all and lost the faith I had been holding onto. An unnatural screech ridden with pain and anguish pierced the stormy night. It took only a second for me to recognize it as my own.

Bella's smiling face flashed across my sight like an angel showing me the light and then disappeared into darkness. I reached for the vision with my fingers in desperation, only to skid along the slippery mud and land on my stomach in defeat. The crack of thunder shook the earth beneath me again as if agreeing at the injustice I felt in my soul. I pounded the ground in rage against the very men that took Bella in the first place. With one blinding flash of lightning I promised myself they would pay. This was the last offence they would commit against my family.

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**So, how was it? I'm excited to see what you guys thought. **

**~*~Mimi-Love-4Ever**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Here's chapter 1 and I hope you like it! Enjoy. :D **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight and such, but I do own some characters and the plot. **

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**Chapter 1:**

_Edward's POV_

5 . . .

4 . . .

3 . . .

2 . . .

1 . . .

Happy New Years!

The people around me shouted enthusiastically, hugging and throwing confetti all over each other in celebration. Happy smiles graced their faces in hope for the coming year. Music blasted freely from the speakers around the room and lights flashed overhead from the ceiling. I watched the scene unfold through the eyes of an outsider - detached. My parents were walking through the crowds naturally being the perfect hosts that they were and greeting guests. My sister and brother, Alice and Emmett, were dancing outside with their respective partners in the "teenage spot". Half of the town's population was here, delighted to join in seeing as they thought us to be important to the community. Although the celebrations were going on in my own home, I wondered why I didn't feel like joining in as I usually would.

I sighed and decided to turn in early despite the fact that it was past midnight, there wasn't much else to do anyway. At least, that's what I told myself. I don't think I could stand any more random girls from school trying to get me to dance with them just so they'd have an excuse to touch me. I had enough with one I didn't need thirty more.

"Hey Edward," a high pitched voice called from across the room. It was hard to ignore above all the noise.

I turned to acknowledge whoever had called only to find that it was my soon-to-be ex girlfriend, Tanya. Ever since I had walked in on her kissing the captain of our rival soccer team by accident, I didn't want to see her let alone be in close proximity. That discovery had been over a week ago and I hadn't found the energy to call things off between us. Not because I had strong feelings for her, quite the contrary, but the mere drama it would cause at this particular moment made me put it off. It's a good thing my sister hadn't gotten wind of this incident or else Tanya wouldn't even be here in our house.

"Tanya," I greeted her as politely as I could. My parents did raise me to be a gentleman after all.

"Baby, I haven't seen you in so long," she said running her hands all over my shoulders. "I miss you."

I bet you do.

"Please, not now," I brushed her off gently and pushed her hands away.

"But Edward, we haven't spent any time together," whined Tanya pouting her lips. Translation for: We haven't made out.

_What did I ever see in her?_ I asked myself.

"Hey, you girl?" My brother's girlfriend, Rosalie, interrupted thankfully. "He doesn't want to see you, okay. Leave him alone."

Rosalie stood with her arms crossed a few feet away from us in an intimidating stance. She threw Tanya a piercing look with her sapphire eyes. The two stared at each other without blinking until Rosalie raised one of her perfect eyebrows daring Tanya to say something.

"Humph." Tanya stomped her foot, glaring at Rosalie, and scurried away, no doubt to join her clique of followers.

I turned to Rosalie and smiled at her. "Thanks Rose, I owe you one."

"That's about the hundredth one you owe me, Eddie boy," grinned Rosalie showing off her pearly white teeth.

I groaned at the nickname. "Must you insist on calling me that?"

"Considering I just saved you from Tanya's evil perverted claws, yes, I will call you that," Rosalie replied smugly. "Now if you don't mind it's a New Years party and I must find my dashing boyfriend."

She flashed me another wide smile and disappeared into the crowd of people.

Dashing? Emmett? I snorted quietly at the thought and continued to my room at the top floor of the house.

My room, a mixture of modern and antiquity, was barely high enough to drown out the chatter of the guests and tone down the volume of the music. For a moment I let the sight of the moon weaving through the clouds outside my window catch my attention. Moonlight poured in from the far side of the room through the wall that doubled as window. I shrugged out of my favorite gray jacket and threw it on my desk chair or "spinny" as Emmett liked to call it. I rolled up my sleeves to my elbows, undoing the first three buttons of my shirt, and loosened the stupid tie my mom had made me wear. My shoes came off next and with that I let myself fall backwards on my bed.

A wistful sigh escaped my lips as I stared at the ceiling. Usually I wasn't so tense and . . . depressed, but lately I felt like I was losing my sense of self. I don't know what my problem was honestly. Things in my life were great, just like any other teenager's, but I felt something missing. Something that nagged at me though I hadn't the faintest idea what it was. I snatched the control to my stereo from the table beside my bed and pushed the ON button. The song from one of my favorite bands came on and echoed across the bare silence in my room. The music instantly soothed me and relaxed my exhausted limbs until it finally put me to sleep.

~*~*~

I woke up hours later soaked in sweat and trembling. My breathing was labored as well. I tried to remember what I had been dreaming about and drew a blank except that I had seen a pair of beautiful chocolate brown eyes. The moonlight I had fallen asleep to no longer light up the room instead darkness engulfed the space around me. I rubbed my eyes and searched for my alarm clock. The time read 5:30 AM. Too early to be getting up right after attending a party and being on winter break. After a couple of minutes trying unsuccessfully to fall asleep again I got up from the bed still in my previous outfit and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. I barely registered the stereo being turned off.

_Must have been mom._ I shrugged it off.

Twenty minutes later I was walking down the stairs in some comfortable sweatpants and old t-shirt. On my way down I noticed how everything looked untouched and clean as if there hadn't been a party at all. Esme would surely be the one responsible for that miracle. I walked through the quiet living room and into the kitchen to make myself a bowl of cereal. My cooking skills were in serious need for improvement. About half way through my breakfast my pixie of a sister bounced in humming to herself. Her black shoulder length wispy hair was in perfect arrangement as usual. Right behind her walked Jasper. Her boyfriend and my best friend. My brotherly instincts kicked in involuntarily and had me stiffening in my seat. I trusted them both with their relationship but just the fact that Alice was my sister had me overreacting. I really should be used to seeing Jasper here morning, afternoons, and nights, mom had even given him one of the guest rooms whenever he wanted to stay the night. Not to mention his sister, Rosalie, practically lived here as well.

"Hi, Edward." Alice's unusually chirpy tone greeted me.

"Hey, bro." Jasper nodded in my direction on his way to the fridge.

"'Morning, Alice, Jasper." I nodded to each of them.

"Tanya was looking for you yesterday," began Alice. "Apparently Rose told her off which made her come running to me thinking _I_ could somehow help her with furthering your relationship."

I choked on my cereal. "What?"

"Yep. Rosalie told me you went up to your room and then your girlfriend came to me," Alice responded. "Honestly Edward, I really can't stand her. It's bad enough I have to put up with her because you two are dating, but if she checks out my Jasper again I'm gonna pop her one in the eye."

I laughed at her warning, imagining little Alice picking a fight with Tanya, who towered over her most of the time because of those high heels she's always wearing. One look at my sister's face and I sobered up knowing she would do it. This was one tough pixie I had for a sister.

"I can't control what she does," I said simply. If I could she wouldn't have cheated on me. I added in silently. I wiped the table distractedly and hoped Alice wouldn't read too much into my behavior.

"You okay, Edward?" Jasper asked after a few minutes of silence. I looked up to see his concerned expression and silent questions.

"I'm fine," I answered. Funny how Jasper always seemed to perceive people's feelings.

"What would you like to eat, my over excited pixie?" Jasper asked Alice, steering the conversation away from me.

"Would pancakes be too much to ask?" giggled Alice. I couldn't help but stifle my laughter at the playful tone her voice took on.

"Never," replied Jasper pulling Alice close and kissing her.

I looked away to give them some privacy, not to mention the fact that I was getting uncomfortable seeing my sister and friend together like that.

"See you guys later," I muttered.

As soon as my plate was in the sink I headed up to my room again. On the way up I bumped into my mom coming down by herself. She gave me a morning hug and let me know dad was at work when I asked her. I heard her walk into the kitchen and clear her throat loudly. This time I let out a laugh and continued on. Once in my room, I changed into some shorts and put on running shoes for my morning jog around town. All I bothered carrying with me was my iPod. I felt no need to have my cell phone since my parents knew I always went at the same time and sometimes stayed out later when I had things to think about. Besides, it became a burden to carry it around.

The weather outside was typical for Forks, Washington: cloudy with a good chance of rain. I thought about it and snatched one of my favorite sweaters in case it decided to really rain. I stretched a good five minutes and then I was off. My run took me through my usual spots, the long driveway through our house and ten minutes later the Chief of Police's house, Charlie Swan. His cruiser was gone and a bit early, too. I continued until I ran out of breath and that left me near the La Push beach where I seldom came unless I really needed to be alone. They had some pretty cool cliffs to jump off, for recreational purposes of course.

I remembered the first time I came here as a freshman and trying out for the soccer team. Gerard Leno had been the captain then and had given all us newbies a choice: prove yourself or go home.

"No one in my team gets all the glory," he had said staring us down. The rest of the team had stood a couple of feet behind him looking at each of us with a critical eye. They nodded at the Captains statement and grinned at some unknown memory.

All of us had stood in a line and glanced at him uneasily wondering what he was talking about exactly. I had known a couple of the boys trying out with me and some of them had had prior practice. Any one of them could make the team without breaking a sweat. I shook the thought away before my confidence would disappear.

"This isn't a one man show, you want all the fame go play football," Gerard continued. "That'll give you a good ego boost if you'd like."

The team chuckled and one of them shouted, "Tell them already, Leno. I'm dying to see if they'll do it."

"Yeah, yeah. You shut your yap, Stocking, before I throw you over myself like last time," he shouted back throwing him the birdie causing all of us to laugh. "Now, this is simple, you either do it or you don't. It's not rocket science. I'm not going to force you or even think bad of you if you don't."

In the silence that followed his words the guys on either side of me shifted nervously on their feet. For some reason I grew calm and lifted my shin in defiance. The entire team was probably counting on us backing out.

I think I was the only one who jumped, but not because I needed to prove myself to any of them. Gerard took one look at me and introduced me into the Varsity team telling the coach I was the right material. Somehow the story got back to my parents and I got an earful of lectures plus a week of no phone privileges. I'm glad I jumped though. That's one experience I'll never regret.

Once I regained my breath, I was ready to go home. A light drizzle began forcing me to pull up my hoodie so I wouldn't get completely wet and end up getting sick. The familiar fog that came before a storm descended while I passed through the town again. Just as I was about to pass the Chief's house again a dark red Mercedes-Benz Guard caught my attention. It was sitting right next to the cruiser just waiting to be driven. My curiosity, and stupidity, got the best of me. I looked around for any passing neighbors and easily climbed the tree next to the house hoping to get a glimpse of the Mercedes' owner. Chief Swan couldn't be the driver; he didn't strike me as the kind of person to have a flashy car like that. If it wasn't his then whose was it? No one in town owned an expensive car such as that one.

From my hiding place, I could see through the window. Chief Swan was talking with someone, but I couldn't see who. I saw him give the mystery person an awkward smile and a hug before walking out the door and to his car. To my luck I was out of sight or else he would surely have arrested me for sneaking around his house. I turned my attention back to the window and saw no one. Maybe the Chief was losing it or something.

I sighed and was about to turn away when a person passing through one of the windows upstairs stopped me. I stood up on the branch in hopes of getting another glimpse of whoever was up there when the mystery person stopped directly in front of the window. I stood frozen and watched a pair of pale feminine hands lift up the window. A cascade of mahogany hair blew in the wind and then I was staring into the chocolate brown eyes of my dream, only there was a trail of tears falling down two blushing cheeks.

"Beautiful," I found myself murmuring.

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**So, what do you think? Lemme know. **

**If you'd to see the banner ReachingAsIFall has made for this story here's the link (I'll also put it in my profile): http: // img39 .imageshack .us/ img39 /417 /id2j. jpg**

**Oh and a huge, huge, thank you to those that reviewed the Preface. Thank you for reading. **

**See ya in the next chapter! **

**~*~Mimi-Love-4Ever **


	3. Chapter 2

**Hiya guys! How's everyone doing? **

**Anyone excited for the new Eclipse trailer tomorrow? **

**One thing I'd like to clarify, just so there's no confusion. This story is All Human. The Cullen kids are all in high school. **

**Alrighty, here's chapter 2 of Identity. By the way, thank you for all the awesome reviews and stuff. It all makes me so happy! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

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**Chapter 2:**

_Bella's POV_

From the small window of the private jet, I watched my life disappear from view. The ground was no longer visible. It hadn't been for quite some time and the only things I could see were the gray clouds. The clouds and the dark shadows; an almost perfect metaphor for my life. No one was certain of when I would return to Arizona. The dangers there were far too great and one unintentional mistake could mean my life or my mother's. It wasn't safe. That's why I had to leave everything behind and assume a new persona. I just hoped I could keep it convincing. My mom often told me I was never good at lying since I was too much of an open book. I turned my thoughts away from my old life and the window; there was no use wallowing over what I couldn't control. Instead my thoughts revolved around my mother.

Oh how I missed her.

Without so much as a hug and a few simple parting words she disappeared into a black car escorted by intimidating men in black suits that could pass as FBI agents. I didn't get the chance to tell her I loved her for Pete's sake! The words had been ever present in my mind and on the tip of my tongue, but I had failed to utter them. Suddenly the memory of our departure sprang to mind and I welcomed it anxiously just to see my mom's face again.

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_"Isabella, listen to me," my mom said taking hold of my shoulders. The expression on her face was serious. "I need you to promise me you'll be safe with your father and keep the both of you cautious." _

_"I will," I promised while trying hard not to cry. _

_"Remember everything I taught you. Though I pray you never have to use it," Renee whispered. _

_"Miss Renee, we have one minute," the man standing next to her said, glancing at people passing by with suspicious eyes. _

_"Take care of yourself, honey," cried Renee. "Your dad doesn't know anything and it should stay that way to protect him. I love you, Bella, my sweet child." _

_Before I could say anything my mom was being ushered away as discreetly as possibly by a flock of men and out of the private airport. People around us barely noticed the activity and for some reason I couldn't figure out if it was a good or bad thing. The two men by my side watched them leave and then turned to me. Black sunglasses covered their eyes from my view and that alone made me feel as if they were scrutinizing me, deciding whether I was valuable enough to risk their lives. _

_"Your flight has been called, miss," one of the men said emotionless, which only made me feel worse. My world was being turned upside down and all they had to show for was their duty. _

_"Thank you," I whispered numbly. _

_I stared at the place where my mom had been moments before then shook myself out of my stupor. I had to be strong. That ws something that I have always had to be for my mom and dad since I was a little girl, but now I had to be strong for myself as well. _

_"Love you, too, mom." _

~*~*~

"Take care," I murmured to the memory.

My fingers tightened around the clasp of the window and slowly I slid down the cover as the first rays of a new day settled across my face.

All throughout the journey, I took the memories of my old life and put them in a box inside my mind. It hurt to think of them and if I dwelled there too much, I might end up never leaving. I carefully went over my new identity piece by piece to make sure no slip ups would be made. I hated the fact that I would have to lie to Charlie. He was my father after all and although we had only spent a few moments together in the past, I didn't want to hurt him. It was for the best. The good thing was that it wouldn't be too hard to fake around him since he didn't know most things about me, just enough.

_"The end justify the means."_ Machiavelli once said in his political treatise. I found it odd comparing a quote from _The Prince_ to a situation like mine, but it had just seemingly popped into my head. I'll blame that on the advanced classes my mother made me take back when I was a Freshman. She wanted to make sure I stayed way ahead of my year in case anything happened with her . . . job and I had to leave school. Now something did happen and my whole life had changed.

"Good morning, sweetie," a gentle voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I looked up startled and saw it was one of the flight attendants. She was still young, like my mom, and had a calm demeanor about her.

"Good morning," I called back, barely managing to put up a smile.

"Everything okay?" She asked with genuine concern behind her blue eyes.

No, I'm not!

"Yes, just tired," I replied.

"Understandable," she chuckled. "We'll be landing in about fifteen minutes. Is there anything I can get you?"

Safety.

This threat away from my family and friends.

My mom.

My life.

"Perhaps a bottle of water, please," I answered.

"Right away."

I watched her head to the front and rummage around in one of the cupboards then come back with what I asked. I took it and thanked her. She surprised me by patting my arm gently, an action that had me wanting my mother's touch. I took a sip of water and winced as it burned its way down my throat. I coughed quietly and drank some more water, not realizing how thirsty I actually was. The seat-belt light wasn't on, so I got up, grabbed my bag, and headed to the bathroom.

The state in which I appeared made me gasp. I wasn't sure if the girl in the mirror was me. This girl was unnaturally pale with bloodshot eyes and dry tear streaks running down her cheeks. Her brown hair was a tangled mess, sticking to the side of her face, and her clothes were wrinkled. I looked worse than usual, but in my situation I decided I didn't care. Beauty, something I didn't have, was far from my mind at this time. I splashed cold water on my face a couple of times hoping the redness in my eyes would turn down just a little. After successfully running a brush through my hair and applying a hint of make up, I headed back to my seat in time for the captain's voice to echo through the intercom.

Exactly fifteen minutes later the jet descended safely and I was left looking around the airport for Charlie, as well as any sign of danger. All around me were couples and families re-uniting with their loved ones or saying goodbye; the air was charged with emotion. Just as I was about to lose it and begin crying, I spotted my dad near the entrance looking around; no doubt for me. He was in his police uniform and looking exactly like I thought he'd look after all these years. With a new found burst of happiness I made my way over to him.

"Bells, is that you?" He asked when I stopped in front of him.

"Yeah, dad, it's me," I answered. A smile made its way onto my face when I caught the excitement in his eyes.

Charlie and I didn't have the type of relationship where we showed much affection towards each other. Our actions and unspoken words were enough, but at this moment I didn't care. I needed a parent. I caught him in a tight hug and buried my face into his uniform. He grew still for a few seconds before hugging me back and placing a soft kiss on my hair.

"I've missed you, too, kiddo," murmured Charlie. "Let's get your luggage and go home."

I nodded in response and helped him grab the little luggage I had been allowed to bring with me. I think Charlie was surprised. Once we collected my things, I followed him to his car and chuckled when I saw his vehicle; it was the cruiser. Of course. The inside smelled like pine, peppermint, and a faint hint of tobacco, which soothed me instantly. These were familiar scents that had stuck with me since I visited as a kid.

"How was the plane ride?" Charlie asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Long," I answered honestly. "You know how plane rides are."

I left out the small detail of how I had been flown here by a private jet instead of a commercial airline like he believed.

"Yeah," smiled Charlie. We fell into an awkward silence for a bit before he spoke again. "How's your mom doing?"

In danger, dad. I wanted to shout.

"She's fine. Doing her thing one day at a time," I answered instead. The answer I gave him was completely honest and for that I cheered up a bit.

"Good, good," said Charlie. "Um, I hear she's engaged."

His words fell unexpectedly flat at the end. I took a peek at him from the corner of my eye and saw the pain reflected in his expression. He still hadn't gotten over her. Renee had been the one to end the relationship all those years ago while Charlie had been the one trying to save it. How do you get over something like that easily? I felt bad for him because he hadn't had the opportunity to close those feelings, let go of that past, and move forward like my mom had. Maybe I could help him somehow during my stay.

"Yes, she wanted to take things slow and see if the relationship would last," I replied carefully. "She's been engaged for two years and plans to have the wedding in May."

Hopefully.

"Phil Dwyer is the man, right?"

"Yeah, he's really nice," I replied, gladly that was another truth instead of lie.

For the rest of the ride we allowed silence to envelop us. We were at a mutual understanding. Charlie was probably thinking about my mom and I was left feeling guilty. Charlie rounded a corner and parked in the farthest house, where a man in a suit was waiting. He looked like one of the FBI wanna-be agents with a briefcase at hand and two pretty flashy cars behind him. To me, he looked so out of place standing there I feared the mere sight of him would light the whole town with questions. I wondered what this was all about.

"May I help you?" Charlie asked as soon as he got out of the car. He was in Chief of Police mode.

"I'm looking for Isabella Swan," the man replied smoothly.

"That's me," I spoke up nervously. If this man was dangerous I had to warn Charlie.

"What do you need from _my daughter_?"

"Ms. Swan, I need your signature for your car," the man responded completely ignoring Charlie and handed me a piece of paper.

"My car?" I asked confused.

"The car assigned to you by your mother," he explained. "I'm sure you were briefed on the situation regard-."

"Oh, right. Thank you," I rushed out quickly interrupting him. I signed the paper and gave it back to him before Charlie could ask any more questions.

"Thank you, Ms. Swan. Have a nice day," the man said. He got into the car parked at the front of the house and disappeared from view without a sound.

"What was that about?" asked Charlie. I saw him glancing between the car parked and the empty street where the other one had just disappeared.

Lie number . . . who knows?

"I forgot mom was going to send me my car," I lied as smoothly as I could. "Here it is."

Charlie seemed to believe my lie. From looking at the car the only thing I could tell was that it was a Mercedes-Benz, dark red, and noticeable . . . very noticeable. Great way to stay inconspicuous. Note the sarcasm.

"What a car," Charlie whistled appreciatively. "Did the man leave the keys?"

"Uhh." I noticed a white envelope taped to the front door. "Yep."

"Okay, let's get you settled in," Charlie said.

Forgetting about the car, we carried my belongings up to my room upstairs. I decided my room needed a small make over. Surprisingly there was a new purple bed set sitting on top of the mattress and a new desk in one corner. Besides a few obvious things like my childhood drawings and such, I loved it. It felt home-y and familiar. Two things I desperately needed in this mess of a situation I was in.

"I wasn't sure which color you'd like," Charlie cleared his throat shifting his weight uncomfortably.

"They're perfect," I smiled in reassurance. "I love them, dad."

A brief moment of awkwardness passed between us before Charlie cleared his throat again.

"Well, I have to get back to work," he said. "I didn't want to leave you all alone but they need me down at the station."

"It's okay, dad. I think I want to take a nap and get settled in," I told him. "Don't worry about me. You go on."

"If you're sure," said Charlie. I nodded.

He didn't need me telling him twice and left my room quietly. I heard him walk down the stairs and at that precise moment, I felt so alone I ran out of my room. I caught up with Charlie just before he opened the front door.

"Hey dad thanks for letting me stay here," I said, trying not to cry.

"My pleasure, Bells. I'm the one that's thankful you decided to move here," smiled Charlie then surprised me by hugging me.

I watched him walk out the door and heard the cruiser drive away. In the silence that followed I felt alone and vulnerable once again. I convinced myself it was just the emptiness of the house that had me feeling this way. I locked the front door and went up to my room. About half way up, I felt the tears start running down my face. I didn't bother wiping them away because I knew there'd be more. I just wanted to lie down and cry. I stood in the doorway for a minute before my gaze fell to the window and a strange unexplainable impulse pulled me to it. My mind was too drained to try to explain what I was feeling. I looked outside and opened the window as a gust of fresh air blew in around me. My eyes took in the green trees and hard drizzling before connecting with a pair of hypnotizing emerald green eyes. I felt the loneliness fade away and hope fill its place, something I hadn't let myself feel for the past week.

"Who are you?" I whispered into the wind.

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**So, what'd you all think? Lemme know. **

**If any of you have questions, please, feel free to ask them. **

**Thank you for reading. Until next chapter. :D **

**~*~Mimi-Love-4Ever **

**P.S. I'm on Twitter and I do occasionally *winkwink* tweet on the progess I make on certain chapters of the story. Or other news. ;) **

**http: // twitter[dot]com/ MimiLove4Ever - My real name is Miriam. **


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys! **

**First of, I'm really sorry about the late chapter. Life does get in the way sometimes, but that is over with and now let's get on with the show. **

**Much love to my beta Kris (kejce) who is like super woman with all the stuff she has to do. And special love/shoutout to my gurl Vicki (ohmyitsv) for pre-reading this chapter and giving me her thoughts. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. The plot and some characters are mine. :D **

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_Previously on Identity:_

_I stood in the doorway for a minute before my gaze fell to the window and a strange unexplainable impulse pulled me to it. My mind was too drained to try to explain what I was feeling. I looked outside and opened the window as a gush of fresh air blew in around me. My eyes took in the green trees and hard drizzling before connecting with a pair of hypnotizing emerald green eyes. I feel the loneliness fade away and hope fill its place, something I hadn't let myself feel for the past week. _

_"Who are you?" I whispered into the wind. _

**Chapter 3:**

_Edward's POV_

Those eyes, the likes of which I had never seen before, were burned into my memory. So innocent yet incredibly sad and something told me it wasn't because of some petty thing. I hated to admit it and compare with this beautiful stranger, but I recognized that sadness there; it was my own.

Wait a minute . . . why were my eyes closed and why was my whole body hurting like I fell down the stairs?

"Hey? Hey?"

The sound of an angel's voice caught my attention. She was calling my name, concern laced in her sweet voice. Warm, gentle hands shook me and I couldn't help but like the feeling, something that concerned me since I didn't know who exactly was touching me.

"Please, don't scare me. Open your eyes," the angel pleaded.

An involuntary groan escaped my throat as I cracked open my eyes. The first thing I saw was a pair of chocolate orbs close to my face staring down at me and some delectable pink lips formed in a worried smile. I was frozen in my spot, then by an unknown force I pulled my body up and my lips met hers. To say it was good would be an insult, heavenly was a more appropriate term regarding the feeling. There was a moment where she didn't respond and I was afraid, only a second later it passed and she was kissing me back. This was how all first kisses should be, I thought.

The beautiful stranger gasped against my lips and pushed me away with a surprising amount of force. Shockingly, I was sent back down to the ground and gasping for breath. I had to wonder what the hell had just happened.

"What the hell?" She yelled scooting away from me, "Are you some sort of _cute_ _idiot_?"

I blinked in response. "Uh, sorry?"

"Are you some sort of _green-eyed hottie_?"

"Huh?" I didn't mean to sound like an idiot, but I swore I was hearing her wrong. Every time she spoke, a strange ringing in my ears appeared and the words coming out her lips were something else.

"Are. You. Some. Sort. Of. Pervert?"

Okay, now I'm sure I heard that word right. Uh oh.

My eyes widened as I took in her words. I shook my head vehemently, "No, no, I'm so sorry. My actions were extremely inappropriate. I have no idea what came over me."

I continued rambling off my apologies while she eyed me warily and glanced back at her house before turning back to me. I made a move to stand and fell to my side with a hiss of pain when I put pressure on my wrist. There was a red faint-looking bruise on my skin turning a blue-ish color. Crap. The hesitation on the girl's face disappeared at the sound of my hiss and a concerned one replaced it.

"Let me see," my beautiful stranger said coming closer again. I didn't even hesitate and handed over my hand.

She took it gingerly and probed with butterfly touches. A sudden electrical charge surged through my body at the exact moment our skins touched. I searched the girl's face for any sign that she'd felt the same, but all I saw was her expression of concentration. I shook those thoughts away for a later time and focused on what she was doing. My dad was a doctor so I knew exactly what was wrong; I wanted to see what she thought.

"You sprained your wrist, you need to see a doctor," she said clearly. "That fall must have done this."

"One question: What happened?" I asked curiously.

She tried stifling a giggle and failed, the amusement was clear in her eyes. "You fell off the tree."

"I what?" I asked again shocked.

"You fell off the tree," she repeated.

I covered my eyes with my other hand in mortification at knowing I fell right in front of her and I'd be further embarrassed when she asked me the inevitable question of what I had been doing there in the first place. Smooth Edward, real smooth.

"This is just great," I muttered facing her again.

"Hey, don't worry about it," she actually smiled and everything seemed to brighten. "I'm Bella, by the way."

She stuck her hand out for me to shake. I took it and goose bumps broke out all over my skin. Strange reaction. I didn't fail to notice the same happened to her and that made me smile in satisfaction.

"I'm Edward, nice to meet you," I greeted her. "I'm really, really, sorry about before. My parents raised me better than that. I was completely out of li-"

"Its fine, Edward," she cut me off. More goose bumps ran up my arm. "You caught me off guard is all."

A comfortable silence settled between us. We were both lost in a moment of, locked in a gaze, until she noticed our hands were still holding and immediately let go. I missed the contact instantly.

"Um, I should get you to the doctor," Bella cleared her throat. "I really don't want you to stay hurt."

"My dad's a doctor," I blurted out, "at the hospital. He'll take care of this."

"Oh good," she breathed out a sigh of relief. "Come on."

Bella helped me stand up even though I told her I could do it by myself. Just as we got to the front of the house the wonderful rain of Forks began to pour down on us. I followed Bella to a spot in front of the door that offered some protection against the pouring. The spot was so small; our bodies were touching more than necessary. Great.

"Come inside, I'll go get the car keys," said Bella opening the door.

"How do you know I'm not a psycho?" I asked.

Bella gave me a 'Don't make me laugh' look before she actually burst out laughing, "I've faced worst and like I said before, you caught me off guard."

Her answer left me puzzled while another question popped in my head.

"Is Chief Swan your dad?" I blurted out again.

God, what is it with me today and blurting out things?

"Why yes, captain obvious, or else I wouldn't have invited you in," replied Bella teasingly. She slipped into the kitchen and reappeared a second later.

"I didn't want to assume anything," I explained trying to cover up my embarrassment. "You know what they say about those people."

"I do," she chuckled. "Ok, got the keys. Let's go."

She closed the door behind us and pointed to the Mercedes in the driveway before we both made a run towards the car. In the next second, I don't know how, Bella slipped on the wet ground and began falling backwards. I forgot all about my hurt wrist and moved to catch her before she fell. Unfortunately, I slipped a little myself and I did the only thing I could think of. I wrapped my arms around her, one behind her neck and the other one on her back, and braced myself for the impact. Apparently luck wasn't on my side this morning because I ended up falling on _top_ of her.

My arms were still around her and our legs became tangled. A small 'oomph' escaped her lips and our faces were almost nose to nose. If a neighbor happened to walk by they'd probably think I was having my way with her on the floor. Again my body acted without thinking, only this time instead of stealing kisses from her I leaned in and let her mouth watering scent fill my senses. She smelled of strawberries tinged with a unique floral mix.

Yes, I, Edward Cullen, was smelling this beautiful stranger and liking it.

"Uh, Edward? Are you smelling me?"

I broke out of my trance and found one of her perfect eyebrows raised in question. Heat pooled in my cheeks at having been caught and shame at doing it. I looked away mumbling an apology.

"Could you maybe get off me before I'm squished?"

I realized most of my weight was pushing down on her small frame and scrambled off her. As soon as I did Bella took a deep breath of air and motioned for me to get inside after I helped her up of course. I felt bad for possibly ruining her interior with my soaked form and decided I would pay if any damages occurred. Bella got in moments later and turned on the car then blasted the warm air, which was most welcome.

"Are you okay?" I asked her when she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"I'm fine and you?"

At her question my wrist began to throb again and more painfully than before.

"Okay," I lied.

"Liar. You hurt it more," she countered.

"Just a little," I admitted. "I wasn't about to let you fall you know."

"You should have," said Bella, "but thank you."

"You're welcome," I smiled.

Bella continued to look at me then turned her head away abruptly, her cheeks changing to a tempting rosy color, and backed out. I wondered what that was all about, I remained quiet though. The atmosphere was charged yet strangely calm and I found it hard not to reach over to take her hand in mine. My fingers were itching to do it and at the risk of making myself look like a fool for the umpteenth time, I turned on the car stereo for something to do.

The silence was filled with a surprising and familiar melody I knew only too well. Bella gasped and made to turn the volume down. I touched her hand to stop her and the strange effect she had on me was instant.

"Sorry, I didn't realize that CD was in there," Bella apologized.

"Don't," I whispered then told her truthfully, "I happen to like it."

She smiled again a little surprised and left the music on. Who would've thought this gorgeous woman listened to this kind of music. I was shocked and happy to say the least.

"Edward?" She called suddenly, making my stomach tighten unexpectedly.

I turned to her, worried something was wrong. "Yes?"

"I just realized I don't have any idea where the hospital is at," answered Bella in obvious embarrassment.

I couldn't help but laugh at her, good naturedly of course. The innocent tone of her voice was drawing me in. I stopped though when she punched me in the shoulder; hard.

"Ow," I winced, "and that was for?"

"Laughing at me," pouted Bella. "I was serious."

"I guess I deserved that," I quieted down. "Continue down this road and it's on the right side, you can't miss it."

"Right," Bella continued pouting. The pouting then turned to a biting lip.

How I wish I could her kiss?

Ho ho, Eddie boy, stop right there!

I barely met this girl minutes ago and I had already stolen a kiss from her lips plus a thousand other things. I wasn't trying to get my butt thrown in jail, she _was_ the Chief's daughter after all, and that train of thought was leading me there. Esme would be ashamed at the amount of gentlemen manners I was displaying, which were zero.

The hospital loomed within sight and suddenly I wished it would disappear so I could spend more time with the beautiful Bella, even if it meant my wrist hurting longer. I didn't know her well but she just gave off a vibe that made me want to be close and get to know the real her. My parents, siblings, and close friends said I had an unusual talent for knowing what someone was thinking and it was true about ninety-five percent of the time, yet as I looked at Bella I couldn't get a read on anything. She was like the contradiction to my so-called talent. I found it exciting and frustrating.

Bella stopped the car at the front and focused her attention on me, "You should go in."

I don't want to, I shouted silently.

"Yeah," was my answer.

"One last question," Bella stopped me before I got out. She twirled a strand of her wet hair with her finger then met my eyes. "What were you doing up in the tree?"

"Trying to find out who you were, beautiful stranger," I responded.

The words had spilled out of my mouth before I could edit them. Bella's cheeks turned a delicious pink again.

"Oh," was her retort.

"I'm sorry for my previous actions and thank you for the ride, Bella," I told her sincerely. I wasn't regretful of them as they let me find her.

I got out and as I was closing the door I heard her say, "You may not like who you find, Edward."

I wasn't meant to hear that. The door shut and Bella drove away.

"I'll find you again, beautiful Bella," I promised.

Now I needed to find my dad before my wrist risked any permanent damage. If it did I don't think I'd be that mad, I got to meet Bella and my life was looking brighter already. Esme would have my butt, though, for all the liberties I have taken today. Grounded will have become my middle name.

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**So, what'd you guys think? Lemme know. **

**Thank you guys for reading and for all the faves. Thank you, thank you. **

**Until next chapter, **

**~*~Mimi-Love-4Ever **


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey there, everyone! **

**Here I bring you chapter 4 of Identity. Hope you like. **

**Huge, huge, huge thanks to Vicki (ohmyitsv) for pre-reading. You're awesome, sis! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Short and simple. :) **

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**Chapter 4:**

_Edward's POV_

"Could you run that by me again, son?" My father asked wearing a half-amused, half-serious expression.

After Bella left, I hurried into the ER to find my dad when two of the nurses recognized me and started panicking, rather melodramatically might I add. They made a whole show of putting - forcing me was more like it - onto a stretcher and paging my dad like crazy. I think they were either trying to get in Carlisle's good graces, advance in their jobs, or I really looked that bad. With the stories dad brought home I'd say it was the first one; that would get a good laugh out of Esme. She knew my dad made the nurses go gaga even if he wasn't aware of it himself most of the time if at all and when it got too annoying she'd come down and "claim her territory". Don't even want to know what that means.

The nurses did the basic things and thankfully dad appeared. He began questioning me and shooed the two women away so we could talk in privacy. While he checked my _injuries_, like I had those to an extreme, I told him I fell from a tree and got one of the nice people from Forks to give me a ride. For some reason I didn't want to mention Bella to Carlisle. I felt like if I did the secret connection we had shared would disappear and I might never be able to get close to her. I wanted her to be my little secret, if only for a couple of hours or days, depending on how long it would take the whole town to know of Bella's existence. That and I wanted to save myself from embarrassment because this would certainly make me the target for jokes and discussions by my family.

Of course, my dad didn't believe me by the look on his face. He is a parent after all. I sighed and rubbed the gauze wrapped around my wrist softly. The scan said it wasn't broken, but Carlisle warned me if I used it too much or put a lot of pressure on it I could mess it up. I was ordered to stay away from physical activities for at least one week and if I didn't they threatened me with a cast. Also, during my fall, I received a couple of "looks-worse-than-how-it-appears" scratches on my leg and shoulder. My body hurt whenever I moved too forcefully and tight hugs were a big no-no. I didn't fail to notice that all this came back to me once Bella went away; I guess she'd been my lucky talisman.

Carlisle cleared his throat loudly and caught my attention. He was standing next to the bed I was sitting in. To add to the situation, I had been forced into a hospital gown. At the doctor's that's pretty much the first thing they tell you; undress and change into _that_.

"Like I said," I repeated. "I fell off a tree because I lost my footing. There was a light drizzling, you know."

Carlisle raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I see and why were you up a tree?"

"Uh . . . well . . . you see," I racked my mind furiously for an answer and kept coming up blank, "I just wanted to . . . to . . ."

"Edward!"

Saved by my mother!

I heard her call my name before I was attacked by a bone-crushing hug. Ow.

"Mom. Hurts." I breathed out wincing.

"Oh my. I'm so sorry, honey," she let go apologizing.

"What are you doing here?" I asked confused.

"My baby boy is in the hospital, why would I not be here," fussed Esme. "I got a call from your father and just about had a heart attack."

"I'm fine," I assured her.

She started checking me in full parental mode, occasionally asking Carlisle questions. For the moment I was save from my dad's interrogation. The truth would come out eventually though; it always does.

"Hey, Eddie-O."

"Hi, baby brother."

I looked up to see Emmett and Alice standing near the doorway both sporting bright smiles. They stepped into the room and settled themselves on the couch in the corner of the room.

"First, don't call me Eddie-O. Second, Alice, that was by two minutes. Third, what are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"Mom got a call," Alice answered simply.

"You know, when we got a call from the hospital concerning you we always thought it would be to congratulate you on getting the job, not telling us that you were hurt," joked Emmett.

"Ha ha," I joked back rolling my eyes at him. Always the goofball.

"Seriously though you look like you rolled around in the mud," continued Emmett casually.

"So, let's have it," Alice chirped. "What happened?"

"Apparently, Edward fell from a tree because it was slippery," Carlisle answered before I could.

Well, when he said it like that it sounded stupid.

I closed my eyes in anticipation. One second. Two seconds. There it is.

Laughter erupted around the room, mostly from Em, while I wished the ground would swallow me whole rather than face the questions I knew I wasn't going to be able to avoid now. Esme and Carlisle let out a few chuckles then gave me The Look. They weren't going to drop this like they had other times with various other situations. That didn't mean I was about to let out with it just like that. Emmett stopped laughing long enough to clap me in the back before his phone rang; Rose calling. Alice stopped laughing as well, but remained seated.

"May I go home now?" I asked humiliated.

"Not so fast, Edward. I need your father to explain a couple of things to me," mom said.

"I'm strangely tired," I muttered, "and freezing my butt off."

Symptoms I forgot about when I had been with Bella.

She crossed my mind again and the amazing feel of her lips pressed against mine invaded my thoughts. I shook those thoughts away for the time being, I'd like to remember our encounter in private. Mom and dad were still having a discussion, but Alice had a wide knowing smile on her face. The expression there made me a bit nervous all of a sudden; she knew something. I sighed quietly. If there was anyone that knew these kinds of things it was Alice; that girl was psychic, I swear. When we were younger we used to joke that it was the pre-natal pills our birth mother took and Alice had absorbed more than her share. That's why she was always right and seemed to _know_ future things before they happened. I was terrible at hiding things from her although she did a pretty good job of keeping things from me.

"I knew it!" Alice shot up from her seat. Her voice rose higher than necessary, "There's a girl involved!"

"Alice!" I hissed at her in warning.

Unfortunately her words caught my parent's attention and they turned their eyes towards me. A strange relieved glint shined in their eyes, even a smile made its way forward.

"Tanya," Esme said.

"That makes the situation more understandable," Carlisle said.

I kept quiet and let them assumed it was her.

Esme's face paled, "Edward, were you and Tanya-"

"Oh, mom, no!" I cut her off immediately. I wasn't going to let her assume that much, especially that.

Alice snickered.

"Just asking, sweetheart," smiled Esme, the coloring in her face returning to normal.

"Please, can I leave now?" I asked once again getting ready to bolt.

"Fine, son, you can leave with your mother," Carlisle nodded.

"Yes," I mumbled and got off the bed making sure I didn't flash anyone as I headed to the bathroom to change.

I put on the shirt and running shorts I was wearing earlier in the morning; they were still a bit wet and really muddy. The rest of my stuff Carlisle gave to my mom to carry for me, even though I insisted I could do it myself. Emmett was still on the phone talking animatedly into it, he barely made a crack in my direction while his attention was on Rose. Alice on the other hand grinned and whispered until only both of us could hear.

"The girl that's got you smiling like a fool is so not Tanya," she said.

She's good.

Wonder how long I'm going to keep quiet around her.

"Straight upstairs Edward," Esme ordered as soon as we entered the house. "Lunch will be ready in a few hours. Why don't you take a nap?"

I grimaced, "Mom."

"Don't start with me, dear," said Esme.

I had no choice but to follow her orders. She gave me a kiss on the forehead and kept her eyes on me until I disappeared upstairs. I heard Emmett snicker from the living room. I had half a mind to mess with him but decided against it, for now. Not wanting to feel Esme's motherly wrath should I choose not to follow her orders, I went to my room and turned on my laptop. I only fell from a tree and sprained my wrist, it was hardly worth freaking over. Besides, I'd had far more alarming injuries playing soccer so this was nothing compared to those, but Esme will be Esme.

Once I logged in, ten e-mail alerts popped up on the bottom right corner of the screen and they were all from Tanya. I knew she'd keep sending them until I answered at least one of them. The first, and latest, e-mail was about three pages long. Hell, how much did she have to say to me? I began reading it and stopped about halfway.

"You've got to be kidding me," I groaned.

The rest of the message consisted of: **I heart Edward Cullen**. It was repeated over and over in the shape of a big heart. If Tanya spent half as much time paying attention to someone other than herself rather than sending me these kinds of notes, she'd be the Golden girl of Forks High. I erased the messages from my inbox and just as I was about to get off an e-mail alert buzzed. Thankfully it was from one of my teammates.

_Yo Captain,_

_Heard you were in the hospital. The gossip has already spread through town. You okay, man? We don't need our captain getting hurt right before the start of the season. Okay, not the point of the e-mail. The guys and I were setting up a practice tomorrow morning at seven to get back into shape before the tryouts in two weeks. Coach already gave us the go ahead, but only if you were present so get your butt over here tomorrow. _

_Tell Esme I said hi and that my mom sends her thanks for the pie recipe. _

_Your cool co-captain and friend, _

_Aiden_

Figures the whole town would know about something like this already. It also didn't help that the nurses gossiped like it was nobodies business. I bet by tomorrow the story will have converted into a tale of how I was run over by a rogue driver on the run from the police. Things like that tend to happen a lot around here. The tales not the police action, mind you. I replied back and assured Aiden I would be there for practice. After that, I turned off my computer or I might just get another love message from Tanya and I didn't want to risk it. With nothing else to do and hours to pass before Esme would even consider letting me out and about, I reached into my pocket for my iPod. Music would surely relax me for a while since I couldn't play my piano in the state my hand was in. Great.

All of a sudden my fingers came up empty. There was absolutely nothing in my pockets. I think my heart stopped for a moment before running into overdrive. I searched my pockets again even though I had just checked and uttered a soft curse. My iPod was damn important to me and if I lost it then I would be seriously pissed off. Like a madman, I searched through my room and threw anything over my shoulder that got in the way. I must have went through every hiding place I knew three times before sitting on my bed and trying to figure out where I had put it last.

Wait, I remember taking it with me when I left this morning. I sure had it when I passed the Chief's house the second time and noticed Bella. _Bella_. I felt a familiar grin appear on my face at the thought of my beautiful stranger. I hadn't forgotten the sad look in her eyes and the lone tears falling down her rosy cheeks. The thought of her cheeks made me think of her plump lips and how soft they had felt against mine, which made me think of the sweet kiss I had stolen from her. That had my insides igniting with an unfamiliar feeling. Would she remember me? Did think of me as some crazy boy for attacking her like that? Would she tell her father about our encounter?

That last question made me fidget nervously. The Chief of Police _was_ her father and if she did tell him about me then I should expect him at my door with his gun ready to kill me. Uh, not good.

A couple of loud taps at my door broke my worried ponderings. "Hey, Edward?"

"Yeah, Emmett?" I called out, my voice quivering slightly. I cleared my throat and spoke up stronger, "You need something?"

"Mom says lunch is ready," Emmett replied. I heard him stifle a laugh. "If you're feeling up to it, princess."

"Shut up," I responded. Emmett laughed before I heard his footsteps retreating down the hall.

Seeing as I had no idea where my iPod was I headed downstairs for lunch and encountered Alice and Esme in a giggling conversation at the dining table. Jasper and Emmett were seated further along and talking quietly. Esme served me a plate, using the excuse that my hand was hurt to keep me from complaining, which made me feel like a child. The phone ringing was the only thing keeping Esme from further making a fuss over me.

"Alice filled me in," Jasper said grinning. "I thought you were past climbing trees, bro."

"Don't start," I nearly growled.

"Face it, Edward, we're never going to let you live it down," laughed Alice.

"Not in this Cullen household," Emmett added in.

"Fine," I huffed. "Go head. Get it out of your system."

Didn't take half a second before jokes started coming my way. I sat quietly through it and eventually tuned out until Esme walked back in as Emmett began making an inappropriate gesture with his hands. He froze like a deer caught in headlights and sputtered something out.

"And that's how that freshman got in trouble during Gym class," he said. "I mean, come on, who does that, right?"

Esme looked ready to scold him, but I decided to give him a break. "Hey, mom, have you seen my iPod?"

Emmett threw me a grateful look as I turned the attention away from him. He owed me again.

"Sorry, sweetie, I haven't," she answered. "Didn't you take it with you this morning?"

"I thought I did, but I don't have it," I explained, "and I know I left with it."

"It wasn't with your stuff at the hospital," Alice said. "Maybe you lost it."

"Great," I sighed.

"I'm sure it's in your room under all that mess or in the car," Esme assured me. "If not then you can always get a new one."

I nodded although it wouldn't be the same.

"Oh, before I forget. Edward, Tanya was on the phone and asked you to call her back," said Esme. "She called while you were in your room, but I didn't want to disturb you."

Thank you, Esme. "I'll call her later," I promised.

I finished the rest of my food and decided it was better to call Tanya now rather than later. I knew what conversation I would need to have with her soon, yet I couldn't bring myself to think about or give it much thought anymore. Unlike other guys, I would do this face to face instead of over a text message or phone. She at least deserved that small courtesy. I put my plate away and headed to the living room, but not before I caught the sly grin Alice threw my way. She definitely knows.

I dialed Tanya's number and suffered five long rings before the phone was picked up.

"Hello?" Tanya answered sounding a little out of breath.

"Tanya, it's Edward," I replied lamely.

"Oh hey, baby," she perked up. A series of bumps were heard through the phone followed by hushed whispers then silence. "I called you about two hours ago. Esme said you were resting because you had an accident. Are you okay? What happened?"

"Nothing happened," I nearly yelled frustrated. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if you'd like to go to the movies tomorrow morning?" asked Tanya. "You know it's been a while since we've gone out . . ."

"Sorry Tanya," I apologized. "I have practice tomorrow morning and I'm not sure how long that'll take."

I heard her stomp her foot and could literally see the pout on her face.

"You always put the team before me," she whined. "I'm your girlfriend remember."

"Tanya," I spoke in a controlled tone, "I have never put the team before you and you know that. My team is important to me too and this practice was scheduled way before you called so I'm sorry but I can't. Maybe on another occasion."

"Maybe," responded Tanya. "Listen, I have to go, I'll see you soon. Bye."

"Bye," I told her right before the line clicked.

I hung up and made one quick stop at the kitchen to talk to Jasper. Only Emmett and Jasper were in here this time, they said something about Alice chatting with Rosalie and Esme working in her art room.

"Glad you're back," Emmett grinned. "What'd Tanya want?"

"To go out, which reminds me," I answered, "Jasper, there's practice tomorrow morning and don't be late."

"Got it," nodded Jasper.

"Yes, Emmett, you can come too," I added in quickly.

"What?" Emmett asked putting on a surprised face. "I wasn't gonna ask."

"Yes you were," I contradicted him. "You always do."

"Oh great, I've become predictable!"

"Yep," I popped the 'p'.

I was out of there before Emmett came up with something to joke about. I walked to my room in a rather subdued manner. Instead of letting myself get down more, I grabbed my soccer ball and headed outside seeing as it was no longer raining or drizzling. I must have spent hours practicing and drilling by myself. It was a good thing I didn't need my hands to do that. When my knees began to ache I headed back inside and took a shower to rid myself of all the mud.

By the time Carlisle came home for dinner, I was exhausted. Although I didn't put up much of a fight when Emmett and Jasper bugged me to have some guy time since Alice was spending the night with Rosalie for some girl time. Emmett insisted we catch up on our action movies and I admitted I could use some of that.

"Transformers!" Emmett shouted enthusiastically.

"Do we have to start with that one again?" Jasper groaned. I quite agreed with him. He always picked that one first.

"Hey, it's my choice remember," replied Emmett. "I could just pick a chick flick instead."

"Put the damn autobots!" Jasper and I responded at the same time, knowing he'd pick something from Alice's movie collection. He was capable of putting in _Mean Girls_. That's a place I'd rather not go.

"Knew you guys would see it my way," grinned Emmett and went to get the movie.

"I guess I'm on popcorn duty," I shrugged.

While I waited for the popcorn, agitated footsteps sounded from behind the kitchen door. I wondered who that could be. Acting on my curiosity again, I inched closer and grew surprised when I heard Carlisle's voice. I didn't mean to pry, but the words I heard kept me from turning away.

"Esme, we need to talk!" Carlisle said sounding frazzled.

"What is it?" Esme asked.

"Something's happened," he replied lowering his voice.

"Is it them?"

Who's them?

"Yes."

"Oh my God, do they know?" Esme continued asking questions. "Carlisle, are we safe?"

"No, no, we're safe," Carlisle reassured her, "but something bad happened a couple of days ago."

What the hell where they talking about?

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**So, what'd you guys think? Lemme know! **

**Thank you for favs, alerts, and reviews. :D **

**Until next chapter, **

**~*~Mimi-Love-4Ever **


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey y'all! **

**How's everyone doing? So here's chapter 5. Just wanted to give a shoutout to my temp. beta, Vicki (ohmyitsv). She's awesome! **

**Okay, without anymore interruptions. Hope you like it. :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight **

**

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**Chapter 5:**

_Bella's POV_

_Beautiful stranger_.

The guy who could have been easily mistaken for a male model. He had called me beautiful. Me! Just the thought of him, of Edward, set my stomach ablaze with thousands of flittering butterflies. The fact that a guy, a gorgeous one at that had, been spying on me from a tree didn't ring any alarm bells like it should have. On the contrary, the second our eyes met I recognized a connection between us and when we touched I felt it more strongly. Oh goodness, touching him had been heaven. As I realized he had captured my lips in a kiss, I froze for a moment in shock before kissing him back. Somehow the whole exchange had felt innocent; nothing more nothing less.

I couldn't help but sigh at the memory. I seriously thought about turning around and heading back to the hospital. He fell of a tree! I remember my mom telling me once one of her close friends had fallen off a tree when they had been younger and the accident had resulted in a broken leg. Edward, thankfully, hadn't resulted in a broken leg but I was worried. Although it would be weird if I did go ask around if he was alright since I didn't know Edward's last name and I was not about to go draw attention to myself. With another sigh, I refocused on the road ahead of me and noticed at the last minute I had taken and exit. I followed along the road until I came by a couple of grocery stores and a gas station.

There was at least thirty bucks in my pocket and I had no idea what Charlie had back at the house to cook with. Since I was already here, grocery shopping seemed like a pretty good idea. I parked and headed inside. I grabbed a cart just in case I needed it and went through isle after isle. I'd been told before I made excellent pasta and since it was my arrival I could cook for my dad to show him my appreciation. After grabbing all the ingredients I would need, as well as a couple of extra ones, I strolled down the frozen desert isle in search of some ice cream.

Frozen pizza.

Frozen chicken nuggets.

Frozen peas.

Popsicles.

The ice cream was right around the corner. I made a small turn of the cart and one minute I was looking at the variety of flavors they had then the next I was watching the store shift. For the longest half a second, everything started to go in slow motion. My hands let go of my cart and as soon as that happened I felt my body twist automatically. It was like I was running on instinct. I didn't think of what I was doing, I simply did it. The next second I was standing upright again only a few feet away from where I had been. Realization of what had just happened hit me full force as I caught sight of the puddle of water on the ground. I had almost slipped and fallen to the floor, but instead I flipped backwards to save myself. Three questions popped into my head.

Why couldn't I have done that when I had been with Edward?

Why am I slipping all over the place today?

Had anyone seen me?

"Wow! Hot ninja on isle 3!"

Guess someone did.

I looked around and found rather large guy staring at me with wide excited eyes. His intimidating size had me cautious instantly, but as soon as I saw the child-like smile on his face I instantly forgot about it. Curly brown hair, a pair of deep blue eyes, and cute dimples adorned the guy. An intense blush interrupted my staring. I peeked at him again and found a beautiful blond girl standing next to him. My mouth dropped open a little at the sight of her. I hated to admit, but she seriously knocked down my self-esteem just by looking at her. Right then, for some reason, Edward's face popped up in my mind and I was alright again.

"Rose, did you see that?"

"I'm right here, babe. No need to shout," the blond replied. She threw me a curious yet hesitant look.

The guy walked towards me and extended his hand in my direction. "I'm Emmett Cullen. I've never seen you around here before."

I couldn't resist the happy-go lucky tone of his voice. I shook his hand happily. "I'm Bella Swan. I'm new here."

"Hey, your dad wouldn't happen to be good ol' Chief Sawn now would it?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's my dad," I answered.

"Cool," Emmett smiled. "I didn't know he had a daughter. By the way, how'd you do that?"

I froze. "Do what?"

"That move?" he insisted. "It was all ninja-fied and hot!"

I blushed again. I heard a throat being cleared loudly and looked over to see the beautiful blond, Rose, on the verge of glaring at me. Uh oh.

"Oh. Bella, this is my girlfriend Rosalie Hale," Emmett introduced.

"Hi," I chipped in.

"Hey," she nodded in my direction. At least she hadn't insulted me or anything.

Someone's cell phone went off right then. Emmett excused himself and walked away from us. Rosalie and I stared at each other in an awkward manner before she broke our eye contact and reached into the freezer to grab a tub of ice cream. Emmett returned quickly before any more awkwardness could occur.

"How can you like _that_ over vanilla ice cream?" he asked

"Because it's good and has way more taste," Rosalie replied easily.

"Rainbow Sherbet does not taste better than vanilla," argued Emmett.

"Actually," I found myself speaking, "it is way better."

Both Emmett and Rosalie stared at me for the longest time until Rosalie broke out in a smile and turned towards her boyfriend.

"See, I told you," she said then turned to me. "Thank you, Bella."

A happy smile graced her face, lighting up her features in an extraordinary way. I found myself liking her too despite the slight hesitation she'd thrown my way earlier.

"Typical, the girls gang together against me," Emmett muttered. He looked at me then Rosalie as if trying to figure something out.

"Not if _the girls_ are right." The words spilled right out of my mouth.

Rosalie burst out laughing at the expression that formed on Emmett's face thanks to my words. Thankfully, Emmett joined as well and soon all three of us were bellowing in happy laughter. I'm surprised the store manager hadn't appeared and kicked us out for making such a racket. It felt like minutes later that we managed to stop laughing long enough to talk normally without cracking up some more. Emmett had the biggest grin on his face I'd ever seen in my life while Rosalie looked flushed. I bet I was all red-looking.

"Man, I haven't laughed like that in ages," Emmett chuckled. "You definitely have to hang with us some more. Right, beautiful?"

The wary expression that had been on Rosalie's face returned making me tense involuntarily. Just when I expected the worse, perhaps her getting territorial or something, a bright smile broke out.

"Of course!" she exclaimed. "Do you know how many girls can make Emmett laugh like that, besides me of course?"

"None," answered Emmett. "If you don't count my sister or mom, that is."

"She might even be able to get your brother to laugh too," Rosalie giggled shooting her boyfriend an amused glance.

"Speaking of my family," Emmett said. "That was Esme on the phone and she wants me to come home right away because something happened, so I gotta go."

"You want me to come with you?" asked Rosalie concerned.

"Nah, I know you were really craving that _rainbow sherbet_ ice cream," answered Emmett with a shake of his head. "I'll call you if it's anything serious. In the mean time, you should hang out with Bella."

"Alright," Rosalie sighed. "See you later, babe."

I couldn't help but look away when Rosalie grabbed Emmett by the front of his shirt and pulled him towards her. The intensity that flooded her eyes was a little overwhelming for me and the fire in his eyes made it enough that I _had_ to give them some privacy. I took the moment of distraction to double check the items I had gotten and see if I was missing anything else. When I heard the couple exchange soft goodbyes I deemed it safe to look again.

"Bye Bella."

His enthusiastic tone, so like a five year old child, had me smiling. I even let out a low chuckle and turned towards Rosalie who was ogling his retreating form with unmasked desire. As if he knew she was watching, Emmett turned his head and threw her a teasing grin. After Emmett disappeared through one of the isles, Rosalie shook her head as if to ground herself.

"That's Emmett for you," said Rosalie grinning at me.

"If you don't mind me asking," I began hesitantly, "is he always that energetic?"

"In general, yes, but he's only that energetic with people he considers friends," Rosalie answered.

I suddenly grew stumped with her answer. Emmett, the guy who I met not ten minutes ago, considered _me_ a friend. I wasn't sure if I should be more flattered or shocked. My face must have shown the shock I felt because Rosalie threw an arm around my shoulders in a reassuring manner.

"You'll get used to him," Rosalie told me. "Now, since you're new to town, would you like to hang out with me?"

"Sure," I replied happily. "Although I have to warn you, I'm not the most fun person to be around."

For some reason, despite the cautiousness I knew I should have, I felt like being honest with Rosalie. My mom told me I was a pretty good judge of character even though I tended to believe in the best of people. Of course, most of that was before all this mess happened. I became more guarded in my interaction with others and suspicious sometimes. I really had no choice since I had to protect my mom and myself, not to mention Charlie as well. This shield fell apart, though, in the presence of these two people and Edward.

_Edward_.

The sudden thought of the green-eyed guy I had encountered earlier today had me breaking out in a shy smile. I'd go as far as to say it had been a story-like encounter, which reminded me of Romeo and Juliet as cliché as it sounds. I really should have slapped him or something for spying on me and _kissing_ me. The kiss. As spontaneous as it had been, the way it felt was something I would never forget. So sweet and innocent. Perhaps I should have slapped him for pulling that stunt on me, but I doubt I could have done such a thing. He had fallen off a tree. I blushed as I remembered that part.

"Aren't you a blushing vision?" Rosalie's teasing broke me out of my thoughts.

"What?"

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You are blushing, Bella, and you're touching your lips too."

I realized my thumb was resting on my bottom lip and moved it away quickly. I hadn't noticed when I did it. More blood pooled in my cheeks as my actions began catching up with me.

I mumbled embarrassed, "Sorry."

"Hey, there's no need to apologize to me," grinned Rosalie. "Whatever's got you blushing like that must be pretty damn important. Maybe boy important?"

"Rosalie!" I gasped.

"I call it like I see it," she replied throwing her hands up in defense. "So, is it a boy?"

"Let's talk somewhere else," I responded. The local supermarket was not the best place to chat, especially one in a small town such as Forks.

"Why don't you come to my house?" suggested Rosalie. "After you drop of your groceries, that is."

Her suggestion should have raised a red flag, but I found myself eager to spend some time with Rosalie and just act like a normal seventeen year old girl for a change. If anything were to happen I wasn't completely defenseless, mom made sure of that.

"I'd love to."

After purchasing our groceries, Rosalie agreed to follow me to my house where I would drop my bags then follow her to her house. She gave me directions just in case I got lost, but not before she began gushing over my car. Technical terms and such flew out of her mouth at an incredible speed that all I could do was stare until she noticed me. I nearly laughed when a light blush appeared on her cheeks and a timid expression crossed her eyes.

"Wow. You sure know a lot about cars," I said in awe.

"Not what'd you expect from me, huh?" Rosalie smiled. I shook my head in response. "Most don't."

I picked up the tinge of anger laced into her voice; whether she noticed it there I wasn't sure. I spoke up. "I think it's pretty cool that you know so much about cars, Rosalie. Not only does it make you harder to fool, but I bet Emmett loves it too."

Rosalie blinked at me once, twice, and then let out a rather high pitched squeal I'm sure dogs could hear at a distance. For some strange reason, I found Rosalie's reaction to my words quite uplifting.

"That's what he says!" she squealed. "By the way, please, call me Rose. Now let's get out of here."

"Here, let me help you with that," Rose volunteered once we arrived at my house.

My polite refusal did nothing to stop her from grabbing the two other bags of groceries I couldn't carry. I was very careful walking up the pathway to the stairs seeing as just this morning I slipped . . . and a mysterious stranger was there to try and safe me. True, we had both ended up on the ground, but that had not necessarily turned out to be a bad thing. No, definitely not bad. This time around, I managed to hide the blush bursting from my cheeks. I led the way towards the kitchen and put everything away quickly.

"Thanks, Rose," I told her.

"No problem," she responded. "You've got a message, by the way."

I looked in the direction of the telephone and indeed noticed the answering machine blinking red with unheard messages. My first thought was to ignore it and wait for Charlie to take care of it as it was _his_ phone, but then the instinct to protect him surged forward and took hold of me. Renee reassured me that I would be safe here with Charlie as long as I took certain precautions and remained as vigilant as I could manage. The thought that bothered me though was how could Charlie remain safe if he didn't know he needed to be safe? Sure, he was a policeman and has now spent countless of years in the force, but the type of people wanting to harm us were not the kind Charlie has ever known. They wouldn't hesitate to harm him in an attempt to get what they wanted, which was blood and death.

"Why don't you head back to your car, Rose," I suggested as nonchalantly as I could. "I'll be right behind you."

Rose stared at me then asked seriously, "Are you okay, Bella?"

I cursed my inability to hide any emotion from my face and answered carefully. "Yeah, I just remembered I should leave a note for my dad in case he comes home early. I wouldn't want him to worry."

"Good idea," nodded Rose. An unreadable emotion passed through her eyes before it was replaced by a smile.

I decided then I would have to be careful with Rose. She caught things much too quick and would no doubt ask about them. It was bad enough I needed to lie; I did not want to start doing it on purpose. As soon as I heard the door close behind Rosalie, I approached the answering machine and pressed play.

_"Um, hi, kiddo,"_ Charlie's voice rose up from the machine, _"I just wanted to see if you were okay getting settled in and if you had any questions. Yeah, good to have you here, Bells."_

The simple message had me grinning. I was reassured that the idea of helping Charlie during my stay was the right thing to do and would work. The machine beeped again and the next message began playing.

_"It's me again,"_ Charlie's voice popped up once more. I could almost imagine the embarrassed smile he must have had. _"I forgot to mention I was going to be home late tonight. One of the guys called in sick and I volunteered to cover his shift. Don't worry about me. I'll be home at around ten. Call me if you need anything. And yeah, bye kiddo."_

My eyes prickled upon hearing Charlie's second message. For the second time this morning, an unexplained loneliness bubbled in the pit of my stomach. A burning sensation of vulnerability accompanied it and had my heart sinking. The pressure of it all had me gasping for breath to center myself. I leaned against one of the kitchen walls in case my knees gave out and swallowed roughly to push back the lump in my throat. Crying was not going to solve anything right now. I repeated the mantra about fifteen times before pushing a strong front forward and burying my helplessness deep within. I'd have to deal with it sooner or later and I picked later.

Instead, I remembered the gentle hope Edward had made me feel when our eyes connected. Such a simple gesture had vanished my fears. Next, I let myself feel the softness of his lips on mine and the way his body had felt around me, like a shield created only for me. He made me feel safe. I gripped to the sensations and let them envelop me as I pushed away from the wall. Outside, Rosalie was leaning against her red BMW talking animatedly into her phone. By the way her eyes were lit up, I knew it was Emmett on the other side. Once she noticed me walking towards her, she covered her phone and greeted me.

"Emmett wants to know if I have run you away?" she asked rolling her eyes.

"What?"

Without a word she handed me the phone and Emmett's voice boomed from the tiny thing. I had to hold it away from my ear or risk permanent damage.

"Emmett?"

"Bella!" He laughed. "I wondered if Rose had scared you off, she can be quite ruthless sometimes."

"Ruthless, huh?" I grinned and looked at Rose. She shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. "No, I can assure you she has not scared me off. She'll have to try really hard to accomplish that."

Rose giggled and shook her head. Emmett threw in a loud laugh.

"Damn, girl. Are you scared of anything?" asked Emmett jokingly. "Rose can be one of the scariest girls I have ever met, but if that does nothing to you then you will be very happy in our group."

"Whatever you say, Emmy." The nickname flew out of my mouth before I could stop it. Completely silence came from the phone while Rosalie gasped and burst out in peals of laughter.

"You just called me . . . Emmy?" I didn't even have time to apologize before words started buzzing out of the phone at an incredible speed; I barely understood half of them. In between the hyper-speed chatter the only few words I could answer were: awesome, name, love, cool and ninja. He finally slowed down enough for me to understand. "Is that Rosalie laughing in the background?"

I chanced a glance at her and had to turn away or I would dissolve into the same manner as her. "Yeah, she is."

"What for? Did she say something about me?"

I bit my lip to keep my giggling silent. "No."

"Put that little rose on the phone, Bella," Emmett commanded gently.

"Your turn," I said handing over the phone.

"Let's go." Rosalie jutted her head in the direction of the road. She waited until I was in my car before talking with Emmett and getting in her own car.

Ten minutes later we pulled up to a large, peach-colored house; it was more like a mansion in my eyes. Rose stopped right in front of the house and motioned for me to park behind her. I got out with wide eyes and a mouth hanging open, to which she laughed at.

"Your house is huge!" I exclaimed.

"Its normal sized, Bella," responded Rose in an almost shy manner. "Besides, I like yours way better than mine. It's comfy and inviting. Come on Bella."

Rose grabbed her single bag from the grocery store and unlocked the front door. From the inside, the house looked even more magnificent than the outside with an exquisite elegance. Although I could detect a hint of coldness to the atmosphere, as if there wasn't enough warmth to be comfortable in. I understood then what Rosalie had been talking about; the house was beautiful, but it lacked that inviting feeling every home should have. As I stood in the entrance to the grand living room, Rose passed by without even turning on the lights and headed straight for a door at the back of the room. There was a long hallway leading towards various other rooms and to the kitchen.

Unlike the previous room, the kitchen was teeming with a welcoming reception. Rosalie put everything away except for the ice cream she had bought and offered me a spot on the island. She got out two crystal bowls and filled them all the way to the brim before handing me one and a spoon. The second we both took a spoonful from the pile of ice cream in our bowls, the atmosphere around us changed in the most peculiar way. It was as if, instead of being strangers to each other, we had been friends since we were children.

We began talking and joking around about nothing in particular. Sometimes we'd prance around the subject of boys, which Rosalie always seemed to reveal too much information. By the end, it felt like Rose was my big sister. How I came to that statement, I had no idea. Once the thought sunk in, I became aware of myself retreating into a rather detached mode. My smiles and laughter were still genuine, but now I was watching cautiously at a distance. I was letting myself get attached too much.

It was ten past seven when I finally noticed the time. I thanked Rosalie for the ice cream and stood up, ready to leave. She grabbed a piece of paper off the counter and scribbled down her number, both her cell and home phone.

"Call me sometime if you wanna hang out or talk," said Rose. "Thanks for coming over. You're definitely better than any of the other girls in this town, besides the ones in our group that is."

"Um, thanks," I muttered blushing.

"Trust me, it's a compliment," Rosalie smirked. "Unless you get offended if you're not called a whore?"

"What?" I gasped. "Of course I'll get offended if you _do_ call me a whore."

Rosalie smiled. "Thought so."

During the short drive home, I let my mind ponder over everything that happened today. Beginning and ending with Edward. Now that I was alone, I could not get his face out of my head no matter how much I tried and towards the end I wasn't trying very hard. I was so busy arguing with myself about Edward, I almost missed the speck of light glinting at me from somewhere in the car. Out of reflex, I snapped towards the spot where the light had come from and spotted a small rectangle object on the carpet in the passenger side.

Upon closer inspection, I realized it was an iPod and it certainly wasn't mine. The pieces grouped together quickly; it was Edward's. I grabbed it gingerly, almost afraid of breaking it somehow, and brushed the pad of my thumb across the buttons. The screen lit up immediately and a low battery message popped up. How the hell was I going to get this back to him? That was the first question that flashed through my mind. The more I tried thinking about it, the more I started getting a throbbing headache.

_Later_. I told myself. _I'll deal with this later_.

With Edward's iPod secure in my hand, I got out of my car and walked up the path to the stairs. The second I looked away from the one thing that left me a reminder of Edward, I noticed the small brown package sitting on the top of the steps. I whirled around rapidly and took in my surroundings, scanning every available spot for any possible threat. The neighborhood remained as peaceful as it had this morning. There was absolutely no sign of danger. I read the message without picking up the box.

_Bella Swan  
__07413698521371901  
__#__6190_

_**Greenage Private Co.  
**__Seattle, USA _

Curious, I took the small brown package inside and made sure to lock all the doors before opening it. I hitched my nail underneath the hanging piece of tape and pulled up. The top of the package fell off to reveal a white box inside. I peeled back the side and lifted it. Inside lay a letter written in elegant script.

_Dear Miss Bella, _

_Your mother is safe. Do no compromise your position or hers. All necessary repairs are being made. The phone provided for you by your mother's company is untraceable and given to you for personal use as well. Should any situations arise, you will be contacted directly from a private number and given further instructions. _

_Keep the note and the package in a safe place. _

_**Greenage Private Co.**_

I brushed the note away carefully and set my eyes on the cellular device sitting atop the bubble wrap. I was almost afraid to pick it up; almost being the key word. Taking the stairs two by two, I raced up to my room and placed the items inside my suitcase then threw it under the bed. I'd figure out this new revelation later tonight after I had some solid food in my stomach and made Charlie a real meal. Before I left, I took out my brand new laptop from another suitcase and plugged in the iPod to charge.

"Just make it through this evening," I whispered to myself reassuringly. "You've faced worse."

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**So, what'd you guys think? **

**Theories, questions, concerns, comments, send them my way. :) **

**Thank you for all the alerts, favs, and reviews. They make my day. **

**Until next chapter, **

**~*~Mimi-Love-4Ever **


	7. Chapter 6

**Uh, sorry for the delay. Work kept me busy. Alright without furtherado, here's chapter 6! Hope you like it. :)**

**Big huge thanks to my beta Vicki (ohmyitsv). She gets my inspiration flowing most of the time. Thanks, sis. **

**Disclaimer: Do not own Twilight **

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**Chapter 6:**

_Bella's POV_

_"I'm impressed, Bella. You have exceeded my expectations, yet again." _

_I turned on my spot and flashed my teacher a smile. The pride gleaming in her eyes, which reminded me so much of my own mother's, made my heart swell in accomplishment. For days__,__ I had been afraid of disappointing my dance teacher, and Renee, with the series of combinations she had encouraged me to learn earlier this week. I had almost refused my instructor's invitation, but decided to give it a try. My stomach had been brimming with as much butterflies then as it was now. During my usual warm up of kicks and balance, I let go of the nerves hovering over me. _

_As I danced the combinations I had practiced for hours, I pretended no one was watching my every move and it was only me in the studio. Though I loved the feeling of letting my body move freely in the natural rhythms of music, the point was that shyness kept me from doing so completely. Sure, my teacher had seen me as well as mom, but other than that__,__ I avoided dancing with an audience. Good thing about having a private instructor was that I had no other classmates to worry about. That is why, upon looking at the expression on both their faces, I felt like I had transformed into another person for a while, if only for those few minutes. _

_"I agree," smiled Renee, clasping her hands together then turned her attention to my teacher. "Linda, you have taught her beautifully." _

_"Oh no, this is all Bella," she exclaimed. _

_"Thanks," I mumbled timidly. I couldn't help the blood rushing to my cheeks. _

_"Now, I expect you to keep working on this combination," Linda began, "and prepare to add it to the two combinations we have already rehearsed. I want to practice it all together on Friday and continue on with the last sequence." _

_"Don't worry, I will," I told her. _

_"Uh, Bella, why don't you go wait in the car," Renee interrupted suddenly. "Linda, may I have a quick word with you?" _

_I barely hesitated and grabbed my bag from the floor. This was typical for Renee. She usually liked to have conversations with my teachers regarding me and how well I was doing, whether it be math or art. The fact that she had hired tutors for me, although I insisted I was doing just fine in my classes, should have reassured her of my academic excellence. Hell, I was already too advanced in my regular classes thanks to the tutors. But as I was walking out the doors, a snippet of their conversation drifted my way. _

_"Bella isn't coming back on Friday." _

_The sentence alone had frozen me, adding in Renee's uncharacteristic serious tone, and I was full out worried. _

_"Why not?" _

_"There's been an incident," was the only thing Renee responded with before their words became hushed whispers. _

_Incident. The mere word had me cringing in fear. All of the nerves that been fluttering around in my stomach turned into something much deeper than that. I had a bad feeling. I knew whatever the incident was, it would get bad really quickly. _

_"Bella, baby?" Renee's gentle voice came up behind me. Her warm hand rested on my shoulder. "We need to talk." _

"Mom!"

The sound of my own shout woke me up from the memory that had been my dream. A startling heavy silence surrounded me. I lay on my back staring at the ceiling, not even bothering to unwrap the sheets from around my sweaty body, and tried to steady my breathing. Faint morning light peeked in from the sides of the curtains alerting me it was still early. Loud snores came in from Charlie's room; he was still asleep. I laughed at myself_,_despite the lingering feeling of my memory; it might have been out of reflex that I did so. I hated feeling so emotionally unbalanced and Renee _had_ always reminded me that laughter was the best medicine for sadness.

I was going to need a whole lot of laughter then.

My mind didn't want to remember my dream, but I gave myself a minute to reflect on it or it would hang over my head all day. The only thing I allowed myself to think about was the beaming pride in my teacher's eyes and my mom's. For a second, I even let myself feel the way I had danced so freely that day. As the images started taking me back to my sadness, I stored my thoughts away and focused on the day ahead. Hopefully I would be able to spend some time with Charlie before he had to go to work and after that I wasn't sure. I'd need to keep busy though.

After composing myself, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and sat up slowly, still feeling remnants of sleep hanging on to me. My eyes were instantly drawn to the little piece of technology hooked up to my laptop, the one thing that connected me to my hope; to Edward. I sauntered over to the desk and stared down at the blue iPod looking back at me innocently. The screen glowed softly, displaying the image of a battery charging. My hand crept up from my side slowly and touched it gently. As soon as I did, the screen changed and revealed the last song played; it was paused.

"Jimmy Eat World," I read quietly, "Always Be."

Edward listened to Jimmy Eat World. I couldn't help but let excitement roll throughout my body. At least I found out one more thing about him and we shared the same taste for the band. Feeling like I was invading his privacy, I stepped away from the object and focused my attention on something else. I was a naturally curious person and if I didn't watch myself I might just find myself going through his playlists in an effort to find out more about him.

_Pull yourself together, Swan_, I scolded myself.

The ticking of the clock hanging on my wall caught my attention; 5:30 it read. I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back to asleep again, especially with all this excitement now in me, so instead I grabbed some clothing and headed to the bathroom. I passed Charlie's bedroom door and heard him snoring away rather comfortably. I smiled and locked the door behind me. The bright light burned my eyes for a second before I caught my reflection in the mirror. For once, I didn't think I looked plain. I cherished my pale complexion, which looked so much like porcelain, some might say, and the way my eyelashes fluttered when I blinked. I didn't even mind how one of my lips was slightly bigger than the other. Smiling, I turned away and took a warm shower, relaxing for what felt like the first time in a long while.

I slipped from the tub fifteen minutes later and changed quickly. A simple white long sleeved shirt and some yoga pants were my choice for the day. I didn't have anything planned for today and wearing some comfortable clothing would definitely not kill me. I dried my hair with a towel then ran a brush through it and went downstairs. This time, I could hear Charlie moving around in his room, probably getting ready for work. Seeing as yesterday he'd gobbled up all the food I prepared like a man who hadn't eaten in years, I got started on some pancakes to surprise him this morning. I know Renee had loved that and she _had_ gotten that habit from him, something I found really sweet.

Just as I had finished making two pancakes, I heard Charlie stomp down the stairs. He was muttering something about it being too early. I stifled my laughter and turned around to greet him. He froze in the entrance to the kitchen and opened his mouth to say something when his gaze fell to the fluffy food sitting on the counter. His eyes sparkled with emotion and headed straight for the table. I admit that he looked like a little kid waiting for dessert. I set the plate in front of him and watched as he dug in cheerfully. I finished a couple of more and sat down with him. Neither one of us said a word, but the way we moved around each other, we may as well have been carrying on a conversation. We had no need for words at this point, we were in harmony.

"You didn't have to make all this just for your old man," Charlie finally said.

I smiled at him. "I know I didn't, but I wanted to. Besides, I think we agreed I would do the cooking from now on."

"I was fine before, Bells, but I don't deny that a nice meal really hits the spot," he admitted. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, dad."

There was a second where the air around us charged with emotion and almost brought tears to my eyes. Now was one of those times, where the truth felt like it was going to tumble right out of me and land right on the table for all to see. Once again, the horrible situation pressing over our lives reared its ugly head in and forced me to hide part of myself. I simply smiled at Charlie and watched in wonder as two patches of red crept on his cheeks. He cleared his throat distractedly and stood up with his plate.

"I'll be late for dinner tonight too," Charlie spoke in a wobbly voice. "I agreed to cover for another one of the guys at the station. I hope that won't be a problem."

"Of course not, dad," I responded. "I'll be sure to leave you a hot plate of dinner when you get home."

"I do feel bad, though, for leaving your here all alone," continued Charlie.

Before I could settle his worries, there was a knock on the door. My heart jumped into overdrive and I began thinking the worst. I broke out of my state when I noticed Charlie moving towards the front door. I followed closely and began thinking of ways to shield him should any sort of danger be behind the door. I was prepared for a killer of sorts or even _them_, but certainly not Rosalie in all her beautiful glory. I wasn't sure who was more surprised, Charlie or me.

"Hi Bella," chirped Rosalie then turned to my dad. "Good morning Chief Swan."

"Rosalie Hale?" He asked a little confused.

"Yes, sir," she smiled. "I would have called first, but I didn't have Bella's phone number. I just wanted to see if she'd like to hang out with me for the day?"

"Uh, Bella?" My dad turned to me surprised.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," I answered. "I made a couple of friends yesterday. I bumped into Rosalie and Emmett at the store."

"Emmett Cullen?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Good kid stays out of trouble," he spoke, "most of the time."

"So, what do you say Bella?" Rosalie asked again.

"I don't know . . ." I trailed off uncertainly.

"Go on, Bells," Charlie interrupted. "You shouldn't be stuck in here all day by yourself. Go hang out with your friends, its fine by me."

"Okay, sure," I grinned.

"Please, come in Rosalie," invited Charlie. "I have to leave in a couple of minutes. I expect you girls to behave."

"Of course, dad."

Charlie left us to finish getting ready and in a few minutes was waving goodbye. I asked Rosalie if she had breakfast already. She had.

"Let's go up to my room," I suggested and showed her the way.

"Aw, is this you Bella?" She asked after passing by a couple of pictures on the wall.

Her eyes shined with happiness at the sight of one of my baby pictures. I was barely one year old and gripping a chair to keep me upright. Two ribbon clips were holding up my hair into two miniature ponytails on top of my head. I had on a bright yellow dress and was smiling into the camera with my two front teeth visible. I nodded at Rosalie and watched as she gushed over how cute I looked.

"You were one adorable little baby," giggled Rosalie.

"Thanks, I guess," I smiled. "Not to sound mean or anything, but what are you doing here so early?"

"Well I had a sleepover with one of my best friends, but she left early because she wanted to accompany her boyfriend to one of his practices," Rosalie replied. She sat down on my unmade bed. "She invited me, but I wanted to hang out with you some more. Plus, I can always join them later. Emmett's with them as well."

"Is he on the team too?"

She shook her head. "Nah, he just likes to go to their practices and help out sometimes."

"What do you have in mind for today?" I asked her curious to know.

"I am giving you the official tour of Forks," she announced proudly. "Then after that, we'll see."

"Sounds like a plan," I agreed. "We can always come back and eat some ice cream."

"Now that sounds like a plan," laughed Rosalie. "So, come on, get changed."

"I am," I said.

"Hardly," Rosalie scoffed. "Put some jeans on at least. Would you like me to do your make up?"

"Um, no thanks," I declined. "I don't particularly like to wear make up."

"Not that you need it of course," said Rose. "Perhaps a little eyeliner and mascara?"

I recognized the look of insistence on her face and sighed in response. "Sure."

"Thank you, Bella!"

Rosalie jumped up from her seat pushed me down on my desk chair. She started digging around in her bag and pulled out the very materials that she needed. I gave her an incredulous stare and watched as she laughed it off. After finishing, she headed downstairs to wait for me while I changed. I pulled some jeans on and gave my hair one last brush then met up with Rosalie downstairs. She gave me a once over and practically pushed me out the door. I did manage to grab my new cell phone and keys before Rose closed the door and ushered me to her car. I settled right in and began feeling inexplicably happy to be going out with Rose.

Being with Rosalie, as she gave me the grand tour of Forks, was really something else. On the other hand, it really felt like I was being guided in a tour, but on the other, this was so much better. She gave me the "nitty-gritty" on everything in the town; her words, not mine. I even started laughing at the nicknames she accompanied them with. The town was small yet it took the better part of the morning to finally go around. I bet we would have finished sooner had we not spent most of our time laughing and adding comments to every little thing. For the second day in a row, with total strangers, I found myself having the most fun I've had in a long time. Not that I was complaining.

"So, what do you think of the town so far?" Rosalie asked as we passed through a small playground. "Feels homey enough, doesn't it?"

"Yeah . . ." I answered softly, feeling my memory take me back to a time when I was younger.

_"Do you wanna go home, Bells?" _

_I looked up at my daddy through my tearful eyes and shook my head a little; the ends of my ponytails tickling me every time they hit my cheek. My eyes drifted to the hands covering my knee and took in a short breath to calm my rapid heartbeat. I drew my eyes up to meet my daddy's and pleaded silently. He let out a near silent chuckle and reached his arms towards me then gingerly picked me up from the ground. I was set on my two feet. _

_"What if blood comes out?" I whispered to him worriedly. "Mommy will be mad if I dirty my clothes." _

_Daddy kneeled down until he was my height and said, "Don't worry kiddo. She won't be mad because there's no blood coming out. I have band-aids just in case." _

_His reassurances should have calmed me down, but I remained with the same fear. I looked down at my shoes and thought of way to let him know what I meant. I raised my eyes and whispered timidly. _

_"May I have one?" _

_He blinked in response. "What was that sweetheart?" _

_"May I have one?" I asked a little louder. _

_"Sure thing, baby," he smiled. _

_I watched as my daddy reached into my pink backpack and took out a small box. He lifted the lid then walked back towards me again and let me pick one of the pretty band-aids inside. I chose one with funny pictures over it and handed it to him to unwrap. Not wanting to struggle, I sat down on the cold sand and pulled the hem of my jeans all the way up to my knee. Like my daddy said, there was no blood only a spot of red that was turning blue where I had hurt myself with the swings. Once the red spot was covered, I let out a sigh of relief and jumped up cheerfully. _

_"Can you push me on the swings, daddy?" I asked. "Please?" _

_"Only if you promise to reach for the sky," laughed daddy. _

_"Okay," I promised as I rushed off. _

_I held on as tight as I could while staring at the cloudy sky that had patches of blue here and there. The sun peeked from behind one cloud and then hid behind the next. Every time it did, I would let out a giggle of joy and plead with my daddy to go faster; I wanted to go higher. We had to leave the park soon because of the tiny drops of water beginning to fall from above. I watched the other little boys and girls run to their parents crying and screaming they didn't want to go home. I couldn't understand why they would do such a thing. It was only rain and the playground would still be here tomorrow. I put on my favorite raincoat my daddy had brought and fastened onto his hand as we made our way to the car. _

_"Would you like some hot chocolate when we get home, kiddo?" he asked. _

_"Yes!" I nearly shouted in enthusiasm. "With marsh marshs!"_

_"Marsh mellows."_

_"That's what I said," I pouted. _

_"Of course, Bells. We'll put anything you like," daddy said. "Now let's go home." _

"Bella? Bella?" My eyes snapped back into focus only to see a hand waving right in front of my face. "Do I need to slap you?"

I turned to look at Rose. "What? No!"

"Ah, there you are," Rosalie laughed. "Your eyes glazed over and a sad smile came over your expression. I got a little worried there."

"Oh, sorry, " I apologized. I took one more glimpse at the playground.

"You okay?" asked Rosalie softly the murmured. "I recognize that look."

The way she said it made me look at her more closely. I didn't want to look too much into it, but she sounded a little pained.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "So, what else should I know about Forks?"

Rosalie's face brightened considerably at the sound of my question. "Well, there is La Push."

"What's that?"

"La Push is the Quileute rez," she explained. "There's not a lot of hot days here, but its fun to spend some time down at First Beach."

"Lead the way, Rose," I chuckled.

She didn't need telling twice as she sped off and cranked up the radio to an almost full blast. I figured that being the daughter of the Chief of Police, speeding would make me nervous, but instead I enjoyed the way the air blew in from the window only to wisp through my hair and leave me with a liberating sensation. I reclined back onto the seat and stared at the cloudy, yet mostly clear sky. A couple of rays of sun managed to shine through and lit spots throughout the town. About halfway through the ride, Rose busted out singing in the middle of a song and seemed undisturbed with the fact that I was sitting right next to her. She was doing whatever she felt like doing, and that made me admire her more.

As she started another song, I joined in on the playfulness. She gave me, what I can only assume, was an approving smirk, and turned up the volume just a little more. Must have been about twenty minutes of random singing when Rose finally slowed down. I could see the ocean up ahead and while it was a little foggy, I understood why people would come here even though it was too cold to just jump in. After parking the car, Rose and I got out and she made a dramatic show of pointing out the beach.

"And this is First Beach," Rosalie grinned. "I can assure you, you will be spending a lot of time here just like the rest of us."

"I'm sure," I responded a little skeptical.

"Trust me, you will," said Rose firmly. "Come on, I wasn't just going to show you the ocean and giggle over how pretty the waves are."

I burst out laughing at her words and jumped a little as she looped her arm through mine. She tugged lightly and both of us started walking along. We went past the parking lot and straight for some wooden stairs that led directly down to the beach. The crashing sound of the waves so close and Rose chatting away lulled me into a blanket of security. I hardly complained as the cold sand sneaked into my shoes.

"If you don't mind me prying," Rosalie started after a brief moment of silence. "What was that, back in the playground?"

"Oh that," I sighed. I guess I had to come clean. If there was something I'd learned by talking with Rosalie, it was that she is not easily fooled, but that didn't mean I could just give her an explanation. As much as I thought of Rosalie as a friend, I still had to be careful with the information I divulged. Didn't stop me from doing so anyway.

"Yes, that," echoed Rose. "It's okay if you don't wanna answer, but I've learned that's it best to talk than keep quiet."

Again, the same pained tone laced with her voice and had me looking at her closer. Unlike the last time, I caught the flecks of some memory long ago still affecting her in her blue sapphire eyes.

"I was just remembering when my dad used to take me to that playground when I was little," I answered honestly. "I really bonded with him and it was fun when he would push me on the swings. He'd tell me to reach for the skies."

"Aw," Rose gushed. For the second time this morning. "I can and can't imagine Chief Swan doing that. He always seems so serious, but then again I bet he couldn't resist the cuteness you were as a little kid."

"Rose," I blushed in embarrassment.

She pulled me down to the ground with her.

"Okay, okay," she said. "You could have just told me and I would have stopped to give you a second."

"And interrupt you in mid tour, I don't think so," I responded. "Besides, I can go there another time."

"Does Chief Swan have video of that?"

"Rose!"

Laughter followed for a couple of minutes until suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck began to prickle in alertness. Adrenaline rushed through my system in mere seconds and before I knew it, I shot up from my spot on the ground and whirled around rapidly. In the next second, all I was aware of was the well muscled arm of a boy flailing around before the sound of a body hit the ground. My vision became extra sharp right then and the visual in front of me was something to laugh at. Two teenage boys, around sixteen years old, were bent over laughing away and muttering gibberish. Down at my feet was a third boy, laying on his back, with a shocked expression on his boy-ish face.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," I apologized and took a couple of steps back.

"I'd say you flipped his world upside down," Rosalie added in from behind me. I think she was trying to hold back a snicker or two.

"What the hell?" The boy on the ground breathed out.

"You got your ass Jackie-Chan'd," chirped Rosalie.

The other two laughed harder from their spots and even managed to fall to their knees, their faces turning red with how hard they were laughing. At this point, I'm not sure who was more surprised and embarrassed. I took another couple of steps back and gave him room to compose himself. He got up from the ground and shook the sand off his clothes and hair. The guys in the background finally composed themselves and stepped up next to the guy I had flipped over.

"Hey, how'd you do that?" The younger-looking of the three asked. "I've never seen a girl do that before, only on TV."

"I . . . don't know," I answered hesitantly. This was the second time in two days I had slipped up.

"Whatever you did, it was hot," the guy I had flipped stated after he finished brushing himself off. "I like my girls feisty."

Rose muttered a soft, "Oh hell no, he did not just say that."

"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I love 'em feisty," he repeated shamelessly then proceeded to run his dark eyes up and down my body.

"Dude, you're gonna get Chan'd again," one of the guys whispered.

"I'm Jacob Black," the, no longer poor, boy I had flipped introduced himself. "This is Quil and Embry."

He pointed to the youngest-looking first then to the other one. I found myself resenting the cockiness in his voice and had second thoughts about flipping him over again, just to shake the arrogance out of him. It wasn't a bad plan at all, but I had to remain discreet. I could always punch him if necessary.

"Look, Black," I nearly spit out. "Why don't you save your wanna-be pick up lines and run along."

"Like I said, feisty," Jacob Black grinned. "You're on _my_ rez."

"Not anymore," I replied. "Rose, let's go."

"Right behind you," she said.

"Rose? As in Rosalie Hale?" Jacob spoke up. "Well, well, well."

I heard Rose suck in a sharp breath and mutter a couple of curse words under her breath.

"Aren't you the girl from the accident?" Embry asked.

"Shut up," Rosalie growled. "Bella. Let's go."

"Ah, so the girl has a name," chuckled Jacob.

A retort formed on the tip of my tongue, but Rose was already dragging me away from them before I could utter it. I stayed silent while she led the way to her car, holding onto my arm with a steel grip. I slipped into the BMW quickly and barely chanced a look at Rosalie when she backed out and merged into the road back home. There was something behind the silence surrounding her, an emotion I didn't know, and I did not want to be the one to breach it first.

Unlike the drive to the beach, this one was a tad bit uncomfortable and too awkward. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Rosalie put up a cold front, so very like the one I had seen at the store yesterday. I knew it was not any of my business, but the words of Jacob Black and Quil swirled around in my head, not to mention the reaction Rose had had to them. I was lost in thought that I didn't even notice when she began pulling into the school parking lot and swinging by until she was in front of the entrance to a football field. A crowd of students was formed not too far away; they were rather engrossed in themselves to notice us. Of course, I didn't let my eyes wander around. I was too concerned about Rosalie.

Out of the throng of students, Emmett came running out and straight for the car. He had a large gym bag on his shoulder and looked as if he had been worked to the ground due the sweat clinging to his body. The same familiar goofy grin was etched onto his face. He ran all the way over and popped his head straight through my open window, leaving me with absolutely no personal space whatsoever.

"Hey Bella!"

"Hi Emmett," I greeted him quietly.

"Hey Rosa-" Emmett stopped mid greeting. "Babe, what's wrong?"

"Can we go home?" Rosalie asked softly.

Without another word, Emmett got in and Rosalie shot off in the direction of my house. No one spoke a word the entire way and it wasn't until we reached my house did I notice the subtle change in Rose's cool front. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears and a deep spark of pain made it impossible to stare too long.

"Thank you for showing me around, Rose," I said carefully.

"It was no problem at all, Bella," she responded.

"Bye Rose," I smiled hesitantly. "Bye Emmett."

"See you later," Emmett smiled.

I was a few feet away when I heard Rosalie's voice drift over to me; it sounded so sad and broken. "Can you drive?"

"Tell me what happened, Rosie?" Emmett begged.

"Just drive first," Rosalie croaked.

There was a squeal of tires and then silence.

* * *

**So, how was it? Lemme know. :)**

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**Until next chapter, **

**~*~Mimi-Love-4Ever **


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey y'all. Sorry for the long wait. I'll get out of your way now ... **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight**

* * *

Previously on Identity:

_"Thank you for showing me around, Rose," I said carefully. _

_"It was no problem at all, Bella," she responded. _

_"Bye Rose," I smiled hesitantly. "Bye Emmett." _

_"See you later," Emmett smiled. _

_I was a few feet away when I heard Rosalie's voice drift over to me; it sounded so sad and broken. "Can you drive?" _

_"Tell me what happened, Rosie?" Emmett begged. _

_"Just drive first," Rosalie croaked. _

_There was a squeal of tires and then silence._

* * *

**Chapter 7:**

_Edward's POV_

_Something's happened._ Carlisle's voice kept repeating in my head. _We're safe, but something happened a couple of days ago._

I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling being lit up by the faint moonlight and pour over the short conversation I had overheard. I must have replayed it at least fifty times, before coming to the conclusion that I had no idea what the hell they had been talking about. Not that I wanted to know. I heard the fear in Esme's voice, it was raw and unusual for me to hear, but it was definitely there. Whatever the situation was, it had even my parents alarmed. That didn't mean I wasn't a little curious over what had happened.

_None of your business, Edward,_ I chided myself. _Don't go looking for more trouble. _

My subdued sigh was the only sound to have escaped from me for the last few hours. I had returned with the popcorn minutes later after overhearing, but my attention did not return with me. If Emmett noticed, he did not mention anything about it. Jasper, on the other hand, I wasn't so sure. He _had_ sent me a questioning glance right after I'd sat down. That guy was too observant for his own good, which is exactly what made him a great friend. For the rest of the night, we watched movies and, eventually, I caved in first followed by Jasper. I couldn't help but watch Jasper with hawk eyes as he retired to one of the guest bedrooms to make sure he didn't sneak in to my sister's room. Sure, he could do that after I was asleep, but I trusted them both. Besides, Emmett would be the first to hear if anything should happen, then Jasper would have to deal with him. That put me to rest.

As I lay here unable to sleep, I resented the fact that I had not been able to find my iPod. One or two songs in and I'd be sleeping already. Of course, thinking about my iPod had me thinking of my beautiful stranger. Wait, _my_? I shot up from my bed and pondered over my last thought. I had used _my_ in a possessive way, and I had absolutely no right. She was a total stranger after all, yet as I was in her presence the longing to have her be mine in some small way clung to me. Was I wrong to feel this way? I had no answer. I shouldn't even be thinking about her, but it happened so naturally and I didn't want to stop.

I did practically attack her with that . . . kiss. Although, she hadn't outright slapped me like I thought she might have. I'll admit I was relieved. The kiss had felt really innocent and not awkward at all despite the fact that we were two strangers. When I had accidentally fallen on top of her, I won't deny that it had felt natural too, like we hadn't exactly been strangers. I might even go as far as to say that it had been like my body had recognized hers in a way that I did not understand, but it had felt like that. Another sigh burst from my lips as the same peculiar pressure rose up inside my chest, very close to my heart, and enveloped me slowly.

The blaring alarm clock ringing into the silent room was the only thing that broke me from the sensation. I realized my eyes had closed and when I opened them again, the faint moonlight had turned into faint sunlight. Haven't gotten an ink of sleep, I got up grudgingly and opted out of a shower seeing as I would need to take another one right after practice. I grabbed my bag for practice and headed on downstairs after changing into proper clothing. To my surprise, it wasn't Jasper or Alice that I found already awake but Emmett and Rosalie. Instead of the typical heavy make out session I usually always managed to walk in on, they were engaged in conversation both sporting wide grins. They broke off as soon as I walked into the kitchen and threw a mischievous look my way that had me instantly uncomfortable.

"Hey," I greeted them.

"Ready for practice, bro?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah," I answered hesitantly. I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you up to?"

"Me?" He put on a hurt expression and pointed to himself. "I'm hurt, Edward. Why would you think I'm up to something?"

The way the corner of his lip twitched gave him away easily. He was hiding something. Emmett was never not doing or planning something.

"I don't believe you," I stated, "but whatever it is, I will find out."

"Hey, that's my line!" Alice sang, bouncing into the kitchen with Jasper right behind her. She stepped between us and looked at the two of us in turn. "Are we having a group meeting because if we are, then don't you think the president of the group should be present?"

I rolled my eyes at my sister's words and made myself a quick breakfast. Fifteen minutes later me, Alice, and the guys were hurrying out the door and climbing into my silver Volvo.

"Are you sure you don't want to come, Rosalie?" Alice shouted out of the front seat of the car.

Rosalie smiled, her eyes glinting mysteriously, and answered, "No thanks. I'll drop by later, there's something I gotta do."

"You do that, babe," Emmett grinned at her.

I jumped in the front seat and caught the same mischievous look she sent my way earlier. I was sorely tempted to ask what she was hiding, but I knew that would do no good. When Rosalie wanted to, she could be the most stubborn person I ever met. If she wanted to, she'd keep quiet about anything for long periods of time. Unfortunately, that's the very thing that has hurt her greatly in the past. Since I met Rosalie when we were little, I considered her a sister and what happened to her had affected us all.

"Have fun!" Rosalie called out from the doorstep.

"That's what she said!" Emmett yelled out cheerfully before I sped out of the driveway and leaving a laughing Rosalie behind. "So Captain, what's the schedule for today?"

I raised my eyebrow at him. "You'll find out at the same time the others do."

"Can't you make an exception?" He asked.

"I suppose I could, but I won't," I replied.

"Oh, that's cold," Jasper snickered quietly.

"Shut it, Flo," grumbled Emmet from the back seat.

Alice and I burst out laughing at their bickering and couldn't stop laughing until we reached the school. Eventually, both Emmett and Jasper joined too. I swerved in and headed straight past the gates of the football field. I parked a few feet away from the entrance to the locker rooms and ushered everyone out. A couple of the guys were already on the field warming up and rather regrettably, the cheerleaders were here too. Not that I minded their presence usually, but when they ended up distracting most of the players with their giggling, I had a big problem with that. While they stretched and sent suggestive looks our way, we all stayed concentrated and our head in the practice. The biggest pain of having them here was because of Tanya.

She was the co-head cheerleader and given the circumstances of our . . . relationship status, I wasn't sure how I was going to act around her right now. This seemed like a perfect moment to do what I should have done weeks ago, but then the weariness of the drama she would surely create set in and I stopped myself. I'll deal with it later. My eyes searched out the entire field for Tanya and surprisingly found no trace of her, which I found strange. She never missed practice. Missing one would mean risking her co-head cheerleader status and that was something she wouldn't do if she hoped to make captain next year. Nonetheless I sighed in relief as practice began and she still hadn't shown up.

"Yo, Edward!" I turned around to see my friend and co-captain, Aiden Corazon, walk his way over to me. He brought the bags of soccer balls in tow, along with the rest of the team.

"Aiden," I nodded at him with a smile in greeting.

"Que onda, hermano?" He grinned and threw one of the bags to Emmett, who was right beside me.

From my spot, I could actually hear the swoons and sighs from the girls on the other side of the field. Without even turning around, I knew they were going nuts at hearing Aiden speaking Spanish. Just like they went nuts every time he spoke in Italian. I chuckled at their reactions and glared a little at him. I know he knew exactly what he did to the girls and he either didn't care or cared, but enjoyed the attention he produced. I think it was the former.

"What?" laughed Emmett, "Me no habla Es-pa-nol."

"Aiden," Jasper greeted him while walking towards us with Alice next to him. "How's it going?"

"At least someone understands," grinned Aiden. "Hey Alice."

"Hi." Alice giggled a little.

I guess my sister wasn't as immune to his charms either.

"Alright, enough lolly-gagging!" I shouted so the entire team could hear me. "Four laps around the field then split into two groups for warm-ups. Go!"

None of the guys complained as I added an extra lap than what we usually ran. In fact, they almost seemed happier for it. I didn't dwell too much on that and waited until everyone had started running to follow behind them. Although it was freezing outside and certain patches of grass were even frozen with ice, there was no problem completing the laps quickly. Just as I asked, they separated into two groups and began warming up. After our regular forty-five minute exercises, I called Aiden and one of the other guys to be captains for a scrimmage game.

The familiar voice of our Coach rang throughout the field. "Cullen!"

"Scrimmage for thirty minutes and then break," I told Aiden then ran to where the Coach sat.

"How do you think the team is going?" He asked me seriously.

I thought of my answer carefully before answering, "Honestly, the team looks good. The Junior Varsity players have been teaming up with the Varsity players and they're abilities are almost at the same level, even the newbies."

"Hmm," the Coach looked thoughtful for a few seconds before nodding in what I could only guess as approval. "You train them well, Cullen. Your brother likes to help out a lot, doesn't he?"

I glanced back at Emmett and saw how well he got along with all the team. "Yeah, he does."

"What do you think of making Emmett an assistant coach?"

I blinked. "Emmett?"

"Yeah," Coach nodded. "He puts real effort during practices, just like any of the players, and just your word of recommendation is needed."

"Uhh." I tried to sift through my thoughts rapidly in order to give him an answer. I'd never thought of Emmett as an assistant to anything and the fact that Coach had suggested it made me look back through things. On the one hand, I didn't want to put him up for a position he wouldn't be able to handle, but on the other, it wasn't fair for me to squish any possibilities he could have.

"So, what do you say?"

I made up my mind. "Emmett would make a good assistant coach."

* * *

"Emmett!" I yelled. "Turn that thing down!"

"No!" He yelled back. "I'm Dean Winchester!"

The other guys snickered from their spots and cheered him on in his dance, while the cheerleaders giggled away. Emmett started making these weird gestures with his hands in time with the music. I shook my head at him and plopped down on the ground knowing this would take a while. Alice came and joined me half way through Emmett's dance. She remained quiet through it all and only when he made a guitar out of his leg, did she break out in a fit of giggles. I let out a lone chuckle as well, but put on a serious expression as soon as he was finished.

"Hey, Winchester?" Alice yelled.

Emmett turned around and flashed us bright smile. "Yes, oh mortal ones?"

"I see London, I see France, I see someone's underpants," sang Alice smirking.

"What?" Emmett whirled around in an attempt to see his backside.

Now that his back was to us, I could in fact see the hole through his shorts and looked away quickly. Not a place I wanted to dwell too long in. Everyone began laughing at the sight. Didn't matter how embarrassing the situation was, Emmett joined in the laughter good-naturedly. That was Emmett for you.

"Might as well," he shrugged.

I knew I should have turned away right then, something was telling me too, but I didn't listen and was forced to watch Emmett rip off his shorts. Blinded, that's what I was. The sight of my brother in his underwear, even for a few seconds, made me blind. I covered my face with my hand to make sure I didn't catch anything else and yelled at him to put some shorts on. I heard the cheerleader's high pitched squealing and a couple of catcalls from the rest.

"He put on some shorts," Alice informed me. "You can look now."

"Liked the show, ladies?" I looked up to see Emmett in shorts, thankfully, and grinning at the cheerleaders.

"Rosalie's not gonna be happy," said Alice.

"He should've thought of that before ripping his damn shorts off," I muttered.

"I'm gonna have nightmares," Jasper agreed coming to stand next to us.

I grimaced when the cheerleaders began to circle around him and twirl their hair dramatically in a flirtatious manner. If he didn't stop soon, Rose was going to hear of this and then he'd be in big trouble with her. An angry Rose equaled a 'jump-out-of-the-line-of-fire' for days, possibly weeks, and boy can she aim. On the other hand, it was pretty amusing trying to see Emmett wiggle his way out of her accusing glares and flares. I turned my attention away from my goof of a brother, thinking how lucky he was that the Coach had already left, and caught sigh of Jasper and Alice getting all cozy, yet again. That had to be the fifth time since practice started. The only thing I could do was sigh and shake my head. As much as it bothered me to see my sister with any guy, I came to the conclusion that those two were gonna get married without a doubt.

"Hi Edward."

I think I might have physically shuddered as I heard the high pitched voices of the cheerleaders behind me. I really had no choice but to turn and greet them, like the gentlemen Esme raised me to be.

"Hey," I said non-chalantly to the five girls sporting too-big smiles at me. Among them was the co-head cheerleader and Tanya's best friend; Serena Lockwood.

"We just wanted to come over and ask why Tanya hadn't come to practice," One of them said. "You two are together and you must know."

I clenched my teeth and answered politely, "I'm sorry. I do not know where she is."

For some reason their expressions changed and the incessant giggling returned. Serena eyed me from head to toe and took a stride forward, making me take a couple of small steps back. The look in her eyes was one I only recognized too often.

"So, Edward," she began. "How are you and Tanya doing?"

"Fine," I answered her curtly.

"Are you sure?" She continued coming closer. "I mean, if you're getting tired of her, we could always _hang out_ . . ."

"Have some dignity, please," Alice thankfully interrupted. "He's not interested. Now scram."

"Hmph!" Serena glared at Alice and stomped away.

"That never gets old," I heard Aiden laugh.

"Were you watching this whole time?" I asked incredulously. "Why didn't you do something?"

"And miss that, bro? I don't think so," he continued laughing. Behind him was a snickering Emmett and Jasper; both re-directed their gaze when I glared at them.

I caught sight of a soccer ball next to my feet and had an idea of how to make Aiden shut up. Since he still wasn't looking up, it was a perfect opportunity for me. Effortlessly and with precision, I aligned the ball with Aiden and a short twist later the ball was flying through the air at rapid speed. Aiden happened to look up just in time to see it zooming straight towards him. Although he had pretty good reflexes, he wasn't fast enough to move out of the way so the ball ended up hitting him straight in the stomach and sent him stumbling backwards.

"Sweet baby Jesus," gasped Aiden. He doubled over, the ball still in his hands, and cursed in what I could only guess was Italian. "You are so dead, Cullen."

"I couldn't miss that, bro," I shot back.

"Tough luck, Aiden," Emmett chuckled and proceeded to clap him on the back. With one touch, he went sprawling to the ground. "Oops, sorry."

"Ay, Santa Maria," groaned Aiden.

"Need any help, Aiden?" Alice asked.

"No, no, I'm good," he answered. "You guys go along."

I immediately started feeling bad for kicking the ball at him as I saw him lying on the grass. Emmett, Jasper, and Alice muttered their goodbyes while trying to stifle their laughter and started walking towards the entrance to the field. The only ones left were one or two cheerleaders doing laps around the track and a couple of the guys getting in some more practice time. Deciding I couldn't leave him there, I extended my hand out to him to help him up. I expected him to take it, what I wasn't ready for was the sudden pull of his hand that sent me crashing to the ground too.

Face first into a puddle of mud.

"I say we're even now," the little faker laughed and stood up easily. I spat out the cold mud that had made its way inside my mouth and laughed along.

"I guess I deserved that," I said.

"Oh, not at all," he chuckled. "That did hurt like hell, but I guess I deserved _that_. It's not like you needed my help anyway, you know how those girls are."

"Only too well," I muttered getting up.

"What she said, though, is it true?" He asked seriously.

I avoided his gaze and shrugged off his question. Aiden, like my sister, had his moments of perceptiveness. I had grown up with him and, apparently, it didn't take much for any of them to notice when something was wrong. I sighed heavily, but remained quiet.

"Fine, don't tell me. Just know that we only put up with Tanya 'cause she's _your_ girlfriend."

I stood frozen in my spot as I watched him walk away. No one, besides Alice and Rose, had ever told me that outright. Now here was Aiden telling me that they were only tolerating my girlfriend because she was with me and with the tone he used, I take it they never liked her to begin with. I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration and started heading towards the entrance of the field to meet up with everyone, seeing as practice was over for the day. On my way over, I grabbed my sports bag and resented not having my iPod once again.

I hope it was having a ball wherever it was.

After cursing the damn thing, I trudged up the stairs quickly and searched for the guys and my sister. I found them hanging around near the parking lot. Waiting at the very entrance, I saw, Rose. Her red BMW was unmistakable, that and the fact that Emmett was running towards the car. I shook my head at the unmasked enthusiasm pouring off his every movement. While turning away, a familiar pull of energy built up throughout my body. It was so strong I was caught off guard.

_Bella_.

My eyes automatically scanned every inch of my surroundings for my beautiful stranger, hoping to catch sight of her soulful eyes, but came up empty. The only people around were the cheerleaders, my sister and my teammates, besides Rose. A heavy, unexpected wave of disappointment washed over me as I realized she wasn't here. However, right behind it, a confusing emotion replaced the disappointment. I was falling all over the place for a girl I had only met yesterday; a beautiful, real, girl. I chuckled lowly and continued going up the steps, towards where the rest the guys were hanging around in the grass.

You're loosing it, Cullen.

It wasn't until I heard the squealing of tires, did I look up again and saw Rose peeling out of the parking lot. What made my heart stop was the sneak peek of the person in the passenger seat. Through the open window I caught sight of mahogany colored hair, but the car went by too fast for me to see who it was. I stood there for a few seconds after and debated with myself whether that could have been Bella or not. It couldn't have been, I concluded. This person was in Rose's car and Rose would surely have mentioned meeting someone new. That and Rosalie never made friends this fast, not after what happened.

_"I hate everyone!" Rose screamed and threw the glass of water in her hand at the newly bare walls stripped off of their posters. Pieces of shards fell onto the rug with a resounding thunk while the droplets of clear water slithered down the wall. _

_I winced as the rawness of Rosalie's emotions became clear on her sickly face and practically shouted at me to do something. From the doorway, I watched as a quiet and powerless onlooker to the suffering of one of my closest friends. Behind me were the quiet sobs of Esme and Mrs. Hale, not too far off were Emmett's near silent cries. My feet took a hesitant step forward, but stopped as Rosalie's ice cold blue eyes pierced through me. I stood frozen under her glare before she turned away from me and sunk even further in her bed. _

_"Rose . . ." Mrs. Hale called out uncertainly. "Maybe I should call the doctor." _

_The iciness in Rosalie's stare intensified and changed into rage, even the atmosphere in the room rippled with her emotions. I cringed slightly at the screaming that was surely to come, but came up empty when there was still silence. Rose looked at me then behind me, to the eyes of her mother no doubt, and whispered weakly, "Just go." _

_Screaming would have surely not hurt as much as this defeated whisper coming from her. I heard the shuffled footsteps of everyone walking away, but I just couldn't. Ever since I had met Rose all those years ago, I considered her a sister and who was I to leave her when she was in pain. I was a clueless idiot in this situation. I really had no idea what to do to help her, but I had to do something. _

Aiden's words suddenly snapped me out of my thoughts. "Did you hear about the new girl at Forks?"

"There's no new girl at Forks, Aiden," one of the guys dismissed him. "I think we would have all heard of her by now."

"But there is!" Aiden responded insistingly. "And I hear she's a total hottie."

_Mine!_

I shocked myself at the growl of possession resounding through my mind. It was so unlike me. I cleared my throat quietly and lowered my head to keep everyone from seeing the spots of red I knew were shining in my cheeks. I didn't need anyone asking questions. Of course, nothing ever escaped Alice. As always. She bounced her way over to me with this bright smile on her face and let out a laugh.

"It's that girl again, isn't it?" She asked softly. "Who is she, Edward?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I responded stubbornly.

"There's a new girl in Forks, right?" I remained silent. "You know."

"Let's go home," I replied, changing the topic.

Alice gave me a secretive look. "You've got a voicemail, by the way."

"How . . ."

"I'm psychic, remember," giggled Alice and made dramatic gestures with her hands. "Nah, just kidding. I used your phone."

Before I could tell her anything else, she flitted away to Jasper's side and began whispering in his ear. I took out my phone and saw that, indeed, I had one voicemail waiting to be heard and it was from Tanya. My mood instantly flailed, but I listened to it anyway. Tanya's voice came on; a little too sweet for my taste.

"Edward, baby," she began. "I'm sorry about what I said yesterday, I shouldn't have, but you really are neglecting me. I'm in Port Angeles right now. If you can swing by to watch a movie, I'll be waiting in front of the theatre. It would make me really happy and I've got a surprise for you. Can't wait to see you. Bye."

The demanding tone was plain in her voice although she hadn't said anything. It was in that moment that I decided I had to break this off with Tanya. I couldn't keep going along with this and I couldn't let her think everything was alright between us. I've been a jerk for letting it slide for so long. A new string of nervousness and anticipation clutched at the pit of my stomach and put an extra spring in my step as I headed towards Alice and Jasper. They couldn't come with me and I wasn't about to let them walk home either. Aiden took one look at me and nodded in understanding. He approached them as well.

"Hey guys," I got their attention. "I need to make a quick stop at Port Angeles."

Jasper smiled slightly and replied, "No worries, man. I'll make sure Alice gets home safely."

"As if I need protection," Alice huffed.

"The guys are gathering at the diner in a bit," Aiden added in. "I'll make sure to get them _both_ home."

Alice rolled her eyes at him and playfully slapped him across the stomach.

"Thanks, Aiden," I told him sincerely. "I should be back soon. I'll call Esme and let her know."

"Alrighty," smiled Alice. "Oh and make sure to check if they have any sales going on!"

"Only you Alice," I chuckled.

Now that I was assured both Alice and Jasper had a secure ride home, I said my goodbye's to everyone, dodged the flirtatious inquiries from the cheerleaders, and headed to my Volvo. After a quick trip to the locker rooms, I threw everything inside and made the drive all the way up to Port Angeles. I made sure to let Esme know. If I didn't, she'd worry herself out and I wouldn't let her do that. Normally the long drive was over an hour, going at normal speed, and since I wasn't in such a rush I enjoyed the ride. Like this, I had more time to think without being under the eyes of my family and friends. I thought of Bella over and over until I felt I was getting obsessed with her, which was rather stalker-ish, and stopped. Just as I stopped, I lingered over the Kiss one last time. The rest of my thoughts were consumed over how I was going to break this off with Tanya.

No matter how I did this, there will be drama.

Too quickly, the theatre appeared within sight and with it, Tanya. She was sitting on a nearby bench talking on the phone. Apparently the January cold had no affect on her as she was wearing a rather short skirt and shirt. I took a deep breath to calm myself and brought on a cool demeanor; I was gonna need it. Once Tanya caught sight of me, she slammed her phone shut and practically jumped on me. I saw a flurry of her strawberry blonde hair and the next thing I knew, her lips were on mine. The sensation was all wrong. Her sharp nails dug into my skin through my shirt, painfully, and then it all caught up with me. I pushed her away gently.

"What's wrong Edward?" She asked.

"Tanya," I began, but she caught me off.

"No need to say anything else, I understand," she surprised me by saying.

"You do?"

"Yes, of course," nodded Tanya. "You want a more private place and I got one."

I stared at her without understanding a single word she had just said. She mistook my silence for agreement, I suppose, because her lips were on mine again. She really had to stop doing that.

"No Tanya, that's not what I meant," I cleared my meaning.

"Then what are you saying?" frowned Tanya. "I don't understand."

The moment of truth.

"Tanya," I sighed unsure of how to proceed.

"Oh my God," she gasped. "You're breaking up with me, aren't you?"

"Yes," I answered.

"You can't do this to me!" cried Tanya. Tears began running down her cheeks and at once, the guilt started setting in. "What have I done?"

And then it vanished.

"There's another girl, isn't there?" she continued. "I knew it! I knew it was one of those girls that keep throwing themselves at you!"

"Tanya," I gritted my teeth trying to stay calm. "Stop, please."

"You're breaking up with me and you're expecting me to stop?" yelled Tanya causing a few heads to turn our direction. "Just leave me alone."

She stomped her foot, throwing me a resentful glare, and ran into the theatre crying. I stood there like an idiot for a good five minutes until, against my better judgment, I had to make sure Tanya was okay. Or, okay as can be in this situation. It was the right thing to do, despite the betrayal she had committed to our relationship. Yet again, I found myself stuck between a rock and a hard place. I followed on after her and headed to the first place I thought of; the girl's bathroom. Sure, I had no way of knowing if Tanya was actually in there and I was in no way going in there. I cursed under my breath and collapsed in a nearby bench already feeling a headache brewing.

I guess there was nothing else I could do here. No doubt this would be all over Forks anyway. As I retraced my previous steps out of the theater, a series of sounds stopped me in my tracks and brought back a sense of Deja Vu. I turned to my side and just like last time, I stumbled across an unwanted sight. It was truly a tangle of limbs which I was seeing and I did not appreciate the scene. The mess of blonde hair and the wandering hands was clue enough; Tanya and _James McGreggory_.

For some reason unknown to me, I coughed loudly and got their immediate attention. Tanya's eyes widened incredibly while James had a wide, smug grin on his face. My blood started to boil and this went beyond Tanya cheating on me with that guy. There was a lot more I held James accountable for and if he made one wrong move, I would not hesitate to beat his ass.

"Well, well. Cullen, right?" He spoke.

"James," I spat.

"How's the family?"

A red haze settled over my eyes at that moment, blocking out everything else. I'm sure I looked down right murderous.

"Alice is looking rather delicious, if I do say so myself," chuckled James non-chalantly. "Of course, she does hang out with Rosalie."

"James," Tanya whispered.

"You're dead, McGreggory."

He disentangled himself from Tanya and took a daring step forward. "That's something you'd now about. Right, Edward?"

I didn't even think twice as my hand shot out from my side and made contact with his face. He went too far this time.

* * *

**So, what did you think? Lemme know. :D **

**Again, sorry for the lateness. **

**One announcement. Voting has opened up for the "We Want Garrett" contest hosted by The Evil Twins (Ohmyitsv) and (Shirley007). You guys should go check it out and read the awesome stories entered. I wrote one for it too. Anyways, link is on my profile! **

**Just wanted to say special thanks to Vicki (ohmyitsv) for beta'ing my chapter. She makes 'em look good. :D **

**Thank you all for reading and leaving reviews. **

**Until next chapter, **

**~*~Mimi-Love-4Ever **


	9. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! How's everyone doing? Here's chapter 8 for you lovely people. **

**Just a quick shout out to the ever awesome Vicki (ohmyitsv) for betaing. You're ultratastic, sis. **

**Anyway, on with the chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight**

**

* * *

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**_Previously on Identity:_**

_"Well, well. Cullen, right?" He spoke. _

_"James," I spat. _

_"How's the family?" _

_A red haze settled over my eyes at that moment, blocking out everything else. I'm sure I looked down right murderous. _

_"Alice is looking rather delicious, if I do say so myself," chuckled James non-chalantly. "Of course, she does hang out with Rosalie." _

_"James," Tanya whispered. _

_"You're dead, McGreggory." _

_He disentangled himself from Tanya and took a daring step forward. "That's something you'd now about. Right, Edward?" _

_I didn't even think twice as my hand shot out from my side and made contact with his face. He went too far this time. _

* * *

**Chapter 8:**

_Bella's POV_

I couldn't stop thinking about the short whisperings I overheard between Rosalie and Emmett; the hurt in her voice. It wasn't over any simple thing, I knew that much, and as much as I hated admitting this, I shouldn't be stumbling around into conversations. Turning into a secret keeper was a serious business and I grew horrified at the thought that I was already becoming one. I was putting myself in even more danger. Knowledge was not always a good thing. It gave people, bad people, an excuse to hurt you and manipulate you. My mom was already half way in and I had no intention on letting her stumble further in, nor Charlie. I just had to protect them.

No matter which way I turned, though, I kept leading people . . . friends . . . into danger. I try not to get close to anyone, due to my circumstances, but it's hard as hell. I can't keep friends at bay while keeping my identity a secret at the same time. It was inevitable; I would lose one way or another. That didn't mean I would stop trying. Not wanting to dwell in that depressing mood any longer, I got off my bed and looked around my room for something to do this early in the morning. Like a magnet, my eyes were drawn to the piece of technology still plugged into my laptop. When I got home yesterday, I couldn't stop staring at it, my curiosity was eating me up, but I had to respect _Edward's_ things.

_Edward._

As odd as it sounded, I dreamt of him last night. He was smiling, emerald eyes shining at me, and holding out his hand. We were in a beautiful meadow at night with the moon shining above and lighting up the world just for us it seemed. I had been so close to taking his hand, but something woke me from my sleep. Right before I did, Edward's mouth opened and a soft whisper fell from his lips; a whisper I failed to hear. I know it made my heart skip a beat and set a fire in my cheeks. Meeting Edward had been like Fate giving me a lifeline and, as much as that sounded like a silly schoolgirl saying or dramatic gesture, it felt right, which scared me too. Without a doubt, I was falling, and falling fast. I reasoned with myself that I could not like Edward since I didn't know him at all. He could be one of the bad guys for all I knew.

"Ugh," I groaned and rested my head between my hands, feeling terribly confused.

My emotions told me differently. I liked him. A lot. Damn.

I needed a distraction right now. Anything would do. I caught sight of my running shoes stuffed away in the corner near my closet and smiled. I could do with a run. I needed to get some exercise and keep in shape anyway. The thing was that I didn't want to go alone like I usually did. I wanted a friend to hang out with, and the perfect person for that was Rosalie. I bit my lip as I pondered whether I should really bother her. She had seemed very troubled yesterday because of that Jacob Black and his little gang. Then again, this was more reason to invite her. She might need a distraction as well, that is, if Emmett wasn't providing one already. I shuddered and pulled my phone from the small cupboard on my desk. It _was_ only six in the morning so a phone call was out of the question, which left a text as the only option.

While I waited for Rose to answer back, I changed into some track pants and a simple white t-shirt. Nothing complicated or fancy. My phone began ringing about two minutes after I had finished changing with an excited answer. I laughed softly and concluded she was fine, as far as fine went that is. Rather uncharacteristically of me, I skipped out of my room and passed by a still sleeping Charlie. Torn between wanting to wake him up and letting him sleep, I opted to letting him sleep. Yesterday, after he got home from work, the bags under his eyes from lack of sleep were pronounced and it killed me that he was working so hard and not taking care of himself. Of course, that is Charlie's nature. Just like mine. I wrote a short note letting him know where I would be and grabbed a protein bar I had bought at the store a few days ago.

Soon, I was hearing the familiar hum of Rosalie's engine stopping in front of the house. I slipped out quietly to meet her when I caught a flash of black and hot pink jump at me. Unlike before, I didn't have the instinct to defend myself and simply stood there trying to figure out what was going on. I heard Rose starting to laugh a couple of feet away. I finally looked down and saw that it was a person _hugging_ me.

"Rose has told me so much about you, Bella!" The person giggled. "I feel like I know you already!"

"Uhh, thanks?" I wasn't sure how to respond.

"Oh, I'm Alice by the way," she spoke, finally letting go of me.

I almost did a double take as I looked at her clearly. She was very pretty, beautiful just like Rose, but in a Fairy-like kind of way. Alice was a few inches shorter than me, but I could already tell her personality well made up for it. Her black hair came down to the top of her shoulders and was currently parted into two low ponytails. Her eyes, though, they caught my attention the most. They were a sparkling blue with specks of gray and green. I couldn't help but be reminded of Edward's beautiful emerald ones. Just thinking of those intense eyes set my heart beating wildly and made my skin break out in goose bumps.

"Bella," Rose stepped in, "This is Alice, Emmett's sister."

"Oh," I smiled breaking off my obvious staring. "Nice to meet you."

"I hope you don't mind, I invited Alice to join us?"

"Not at all," I smiled again at the two girls. "The more the better, I say."

"Yay!" Alice bounced excitedly. She looked like she was high off of Pixie Stixs. Usually this would have kept me cautious had it been some other person, but it felt perfectly natural to see Alice this way. "One question, though, are you really going out with those shoes?"

I rolled my eyes at her and muttered, "Just like Rose."

Both laughed at my comment.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Rose asked. "Let's get this mofo exercise party started." Alice and I stared at her trying to stifle our laughter. "And I can't believe I just used 'mofo' in a sentence. I've been hanging around Emmett way too much."

"No more details please," laughed Alice.

"As if," Rosalie grinned. "Okay, let's go."

Between the three of us, we talked and laughed as if we had been best friends since we were little. Talking to Alice was as easy as smiling; her personality shined so brightly I couldn't help but be drawn in. It was easy, just like with Rosalie. As I ran, I felt my frustrations fade away and leave me with the clear present, although the present wasn't too clear. At this moment, I was okay and that made me very happy. I barely even noticed my surroundings. Along the way, I learned that Alice was a force of nature to be reckoned with, but she had a sweet charisma surrounding her. She liked to shop as well, that last part made me a little nervous I'll admit. Nonetheless, I liked her a lot.

There was just one thing that made me hesitant around her. Just like Rose, she had a hidden secret. It was so clearly portrayed in her blue eyes and I found myself identifying with her too. Secrets were something I was familiar with. Besides that, I also found out about her boyfriend, Jasper Hale, who happened to be Rosalie's brother. The way she spoke his name in adoration, and talked about how amazing he was made me feel like I was intruding in another private moment. Exactly like with Rosalie and Emmett. I sighed, remembering Edward, and knowing I couldn't have that in the current situation I was in.

"And then, Emmett jumped on the chair!" Alice laughed. "Rosalie had to come down from our sleepover and kill the damn the spider."

"To be fair, it was a freaking huge spider," Rosalie laughed along.

"Emmett?" I asked snapping out of my thoughts. "Rosalie's boyfriend?"

"The one and only," Rosalie answered proudly.

"Oh man," I burst out laughing and immediately felt more of my tension slip away.

Soon we were all laughing too hard to keep running at the same time. We settled for a light walk and gradually fell into an easy silence. For the first time since we started, I looked around and noticed where we were. The sun was barely beginning to peak through the heavy clouds and fall over the evergreen trees above us. Random chirping birds filled the peaceful air. The path we were walking on, right next to the road, started to become familiar and as I looked up at the sign ahead, confirming my suspicions. I glanced at Rosalie nervously and got her attention. Our silence was then filled with a thick uneasiness. Alice caught my eye and was surprised to see the same cautiousness in her eyes.

"La Push," Rosalie whispered, but neither halted in their walk.

"Stop," I spoke firmly. "Let's go another way, shall we?"

"No, Bella, it's ok-"

"No," I interrupted Alice. "Really, let's walk on another path. Besides, weren't you guys going to show me the school field or something?"

My words had an instant affect on Alice with the way her eyes lit up. She squished her way between Rosalie and I, and pulled us in the direction we had just come from. Her chit chatter broke the ugly spell that had descended over us a few seconds ago. Eventually, Rosalie piped up and explained to me a little bit more about the school. The topic somehow led to Emmett in his soccer uniform and that's where we lost Rose. A look I could only guess as lust filled her expression and had me giggling. It was inevitable, really, that the conversation should lead to _Jasper_ in a soccer uniform. This was too funny to stop, though.

"So, Bella," Alice begin slyly. "Any lucky man in your life?"

I shut down quickly and focused on the road ahead. What could I tell them that wouldn't draw attention? Edward's boyish grin appeared in my head. My body just had to betray me as a bright blush appeared on my cheeks. I cursed my ability to blush. My thoughts ran a mile a minute for some sort of explanation I could give them, but nothing came up except for my encounter with him. I opened up my mouth several times to try and answer, yet it was impossible. My stomach began fluttering with thousands of tiny butterflies and I was sure my eyes were sparkling.

"Umm," I stammered. "No?"

Alice raised an eyebrow in my direction while a knowing smile made its way onto Rosalie face. They looked at me then to each other and back to me. It also didn't help that girls communicated and understood so easily with just one glance. _Crap!_ I thought to myself. _What the hell do I say?_

"Come on, Bella," Rose nudged me playfully. "You didn't give me an answer either when I asked and that stunning blush on your face says differently."

"Well," I bit my lip shyly.

"Ah ha!" Alice suddenly cried out, making me jump on my spot and randomly trip over my shoes. It was a good thing Alice had been holding onto me or else I would have surely fallen.

"Damn, Alice," laughed Rosalie, rubbing her ear. "Say it louder next time, why don't you?"

"Shh!" Alice said. "Like you were saying, Bella. Mystery guy, huh?"

"Topic change, please," I begged.

"I'm a girl on a mission," sang Alice.

"You're always on a mission," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"Well yeah, I'm Alice," she laughed. "Anyway, Bella. I'll let this go, just this once because you look like you're gonna stay permanently red if I don't."

"Thanks," I mumbled.

Like Alice said, she left it alone and talked about everything else besides that, for which I was thankful. We began to run again as soon as the road to the school became clearer. Oddly enough, the school looked more intimidating _without_ any students littering around; it looked so empty now. We stopped right outside the gates leading towards the field and caught our breaths, not that we needed to. I took note of how in shape Alice and Rosalie seemed to be; they were hardly breathless, like me. Alice started to go off about the school and the usual activities around here. The conversation, though, turned back towards me. I was expecting it anyway.

"Do you play any sports, Bella?" Alice asked. If it hadn't been for the mysterious twinkle in her eyes, I would have thought nothing of her question. But she was going somewhere with this.

"Well," I answered a little hesitantly, unsure of how much to reveal about myself.

"Don't say you're a cheerleader," Rosalie cut in suddenly with a small hint of disgust in her expression. "Please."

I gave out a short laugh and shook my head. "I'm not."

"Oh thank God," Alice breathed out loudly, completely taking me by surprise.

"That was rather unexpected," I laughed.

"Not that we have anything against them, mind you," Rosalie added in.

"Speak for yourself," muttered Alice. "Anyway, any sports?"

"I play soccer, occasionally," I replied. "I dance too."

A moment of silence passed by before Alice started clapping excitedly and Rosalie let out a rather Alice-like squeal. I think I actually grew a little afraid of them. They were acting very girly and that is an area where I had very limited experience with. Fortunately, for me, they snapped out of it quickly enough and launched into an explanation of how Alice was on the girl's soccer team and Rosalie was a dancer. They rotated every semester or so. I couldn't deny the information made me happy because it did. I could relate to them even more and while it did make me even more cautious, I liked the closeness it brought. That was something I didn't get too often.

"Wanna practice?" I heard myself asking.

"Hell yeah!" They shouted at the same time.

"Jinx!" I called out without thinking. "You guys owe me a soda."

"Aww." Both girls pouted.

"You're a quick one, Swan," Rosalie said. "Better watch out for this one, Alice."

I grinned at them and added, "Thank you."

"Emmett seems to have rubbed off on you," said Rosalie.

"Let's get practicing," I smiled.

"Yeah, the guys are coming in an hour or so for their practice," Alice said.

"Oh wait," I backed up. "We don't have any balls to practice with."

Rosalie grinned mysteriously. "No problem. Leave that to me."

"Come on, Bella," Alice pulled me towards the field. "We'll meet Rosalie down on the field."

Rose headed in one direction while Alice pulled me in another. For a tiny looking thing, she was sure strong, but then again she was an athlete so I shouldn't be surprised. We walked down some steps and took in the large empty field. It was well kept and green, which had me itching to play on it. I may have my clumsy moments once in a while, but it's like I turned into a different person once I was on the field and the exhilaration of it was unlike anything else. I wondered if Alice would give me the weird eye if I rolled around on the grass. Funny enough, I think she'd actually join me.

"So your brother and boyfriend are on the team, right?" I asked not wanting to make assumptions.

"Yeah, Jasper is the goalie for the team, but he rotates as a defense player too when needed," Alice replied. "Emmett was barely made the assistant coach yesterday, he used to play defense as well when he played, and Ed-"

"Got 'em!" Rosalie's happy voice cut through Alice's sentence.

Sure enough, she was carrying a small red bag with a couple of soccer balls rolling around inside. On the bag, in perfect handwriting, was Rosalie's name. She reached inside and threw each of us a ball. I caught mines easily with a bounce of my knee and let it fall before catching it with my foot, balancing it there. I hadn't played in a while, but the move felt so natural to me still. I looked up satisfied and caught their surprised expressions. I burst out in a blush and let the ball roll down to the ground.

"Looks like you play soccer much more than 'occasionally'," Alice giggled.

"It's nothing," I responded shyly.

"Sure, sure," Rosalie smiled.

For the next fifteen minutes, the girls and I simply played around. It wasn't until Alice and Rosalie got a little competitive that the playing around got serious. I tried to stay out of it, but like it always turns out, I got sucked into it. Thankfully, I wasn't forced to pick sides. I had no idea why, but they decided to see who could kick the farthest. Both kicked the ball rather far. They looked at me expectantly until it was my turn. I watched in wonder as the ball flew through the air at rapid speed and disappeared behind the bleachers. Not a second later, a piercing high-pitched scream blasted through the air making me flinch at the awful sound. It stopped shortly after.

"What the hell was that?" Rosalie spoke up first.

"Sounded like a dying animal to me," Alice answered.

Before any of us decided to investigate any further, a group of people walked out from behind the bleachers. They were all pretty girls and, if I had to guess, I'd say they were the cheerleaders. The uniform they had on was proof enough. As they walked forward, they appeared to be surrounding one girl in particular; a tall and beautiful strawberry blonde. What didn't look right were the sour expressions on their faces or the blonde in the middle throwing hard glances at me. The group stopped a couple of feet away from us and the leader of the group spoke.

"Who kicked that ball?" She asked in what I guess was supposed to be a dangerous tone, but simply turned out as weak.

I had to stop myself from telling her so. One of the girls standing next to her dropped the ball I had kicked in front of us. Rosalie and Alice stepped closer to me and a few inches in front, as if protecting me. I smiled lightly at their action and took the same couple of inches forward too.

"I kicked it," I owned up.

I caught the problem easily before the girl even said anything. From experience, I noticed the red patch of skin around her left eye and knew it would turn blue soon. Had it not been for the stuck up tone of her voice and the manipulative vibes around her, I might have felt a little sorry. This girl was trouble, though, and I could see it in her eyes. The girl placed a hand on her hip and leaned to the side.

"Aren't you going to say something?" She asked rather petulantly.

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely. I hadn't meant to hurt anyone and what kind of person would I be if I didn't at least apologize.

"You should be," the girl smirked.

"Wait a damn second," Rosalie piped up. "Tanya, she doesn't need to apologize for crap."

"She kicked me," Tanya argued. "I'm sure it was on purpose!"

"She didn't even know you were there," Alice rolled her eyes. "Don't make a big deal out of this, okay? You'll just make yourself look stupid."

Tanya's mouth dropped open and a loud '_Hmph_' escaped her before she strode past me, bumping into my shoulder purposely. Her little group of cheerleaders walked around Rosalie and Alice and rejoined behind us. I stared at their retreating forms in confusion and surprise. I really didn't know how high school worked regarding the typical hierarchy, seeing as I never paid much attention to it back in my other school, but I was sure those girls would be trouble. It didn't help that I had just pissed one of them off. As that last thought resonated in my head, I snorted silently at myself. I had no reason to be afraid of these high school kids; besides, there were more important things I had to worry about.

"Sorry about Tanya," Rosalie said. "She can be such a cow sometimes."

"At least we don't have to put up with her anymore, Rose," laughed Alice. Her eyes flashed dangerously and I had to admit that scared me just a little.

"Why don't we head on to Bella's house and go out for breakfast?" suggested Rose.

"I'm in," Alice and I said at the same time. Instead of calling out jinx like I did before, all three of us settled for laughing.

We gave Rosalie her soccer balls back and ran back to my house. It didn't take much time to get there seeing as we were all excited and energetic, pushing the Tanya incident away from us. A couple of minutes before we reached my house, we stopped running. I noticed Charlie's cruiser was gone from the driveway and hoped he had seen the note I left for him. I had scribbled my new phone number on a sticky note and posted it on the fridge should he need to call me. Rosalie's car was sitting in front of the house keeping mine company in the driveway, both cars making the other shine. Not a very good way to stay inconspicuous.

I invited the girls inside to cool off after our run. Alice excused herself for a bit and surprised me by coming back inside with a bag full of clothes. She explained, once noticing my expression, that she wasn't going to go the whole day wearing sweaty clothes. Rosalie spoke up in agreement and that being said, I let them use the bathroom upstairs while I did a couple of chores downstairs now that I was here. I practically finished cleaning the whole downstairs before Rosalie came down looking as fresh as a super model. She then practically pushed me up the stairs and told me to get ready.

I found Alice sitting on my bed adjusting her shoes. As I walked into the room, she smiled at me so brightly I thought I'd go blind. There were words waiting to be spoken, I could tell, but she was holding back. Alice jumped off the bed and skipped over to me. I didn't know whether to ask her if something was wrong or if she'd won the lottery.

"Hey Bella," she started happily. "Have I told you yet how awesome it is to have met you?"

"Uhh," I stared at her unsure of how to answer.

"I hope we can be really good friends because I already consider you as such," smiled Alice. "We'll wait for you downstairs while you get ready."

Her answer threw me off a bit. Little energetic Alice already considered _me_ her _friend_ and we had only spent a couple of hours together. I reveled in the fact that I had made friends with her so fast and easily, like with Rosalie, while in the past I didn't let myself get too attached. For reasons, besides my mother's job and my advanced classes, I always stopped from making many friends. I guess being alone was something I was good at. At least that way, less people got hurt. I stopped myself from thinking any farther and grabbed a change of clothes then headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. After I finished changing and grabbing my cell phone from my desk, the sight of Edward's iPod unplugged from my laptop caught my attention for some reason. Something about it was bugging me, yet I couldn't decipher why.

Rosalie called me from downstairs so I shrugged it off as nothing and headed down the stairs. In seeming Alice form, I was pulled out the front door and into Rosalie's car with Rose laughing behind me. The Pixie settled me in the backseat and sat down gracefully in the passenger seat. The car purred to life and we were off with music blasting through the speakers. Alice was bouncing in her seat like the energizer bunny and singing along almost perfectly to every song that came on. I let myself enjoy the happy moment and in no time at all, Rose was pulling in front of a diner.

The fact that it was pretty much empty made me feel less anxious for some reason. I was just paranoid like that. Since the girls let me chose a booth, I picked a private one all the way in the corner. A pretty young woman came over to our table and took our orders, making light conversation with us in the process. I liked the waitress, but I couldn't help being a little cautious as well. Once we were eating, Alice decided to get chatty again.

"Where did you move from, Bella?" she asked curiously.

I tried to decide how much I wanted to be honest with them. The innocent looking expression of her face didn't help much either.

"Arizona," I answered through sips of my lemonade.

"Really?" Alice smiled. "That's cool."

"I guess," I shrugged. "I was born here in Forks, but lived in Italy for most of my childhood with my mother, then moved to Arizona about three years ago. I decided to spend some time with Charlie before I graduate and go to college."

"Wow," Rosalie breathed out. "Sounds like you're a traveler."

"Not really," I laughed softly and added. "I really missed my dad."

"Did you learn any Italian?" asked Alice.

"Naturalmente," I answered. For some reason, my response made them squeal in excitement. "It's no big deal."

"Are you kidding me?" Alice giggled. "That's awesome."

I smiled at them both and while they talked amongst themselves over how cool it was, I sighed quietly in sadness. Every summer, the one person I truly trusted, visited me in Italy, and now with all this talk I was missing them. My cousin, the only one I had. He understood my situation with my mom's company, to a certain extent, and he supported me. I hadn't seen him in a while, though, and therefore had no idea if he knew what had happened recently. I'm sure he'd be making a joke out of the situation to make me feel better. I snapped out of my thoughts or I'd be in a sad mood for the rest of the day, which would bring questions from Alice and Rose.

"What about you guys?" I asked. "Born and raised here in Forks?"

"Just Rose," Alice replied. "I wasn't born here, but I've been here since I was 3 or so."

I wanted to ask her where she lived before, but the question died in my throat as a flicker of sadness passed through her blue eyes. The little warning bells went off in my head; I shouldn't push this topic. As if Rosalie read my mind, she changed the topic gently and expertly. She started going off about some spring designs from her favorite fashion designer and revived Alice instantly. By now, it was natural to see Alice so hyper-like and, in a way, it actually calmed me. Soon, our breakfast lay forgotten on the table and we were laughing again like best friends. The thing was we were talking about nothing in particular. Halfway through our random conversation, Rosalie changed our topic rapidly.

"Oh!" She said. "Alice, we have to take Bella to Mike's party next Saturday!"

"That's right, Mike's party!" Alice squealed, clapping her hands excitedly. She then turned to me, a puppy dog-eyed look on her face. "Please, say you'll come."

"I don't even know anyone there," I said.

"What are we?" Rosalie motioned to herself and Alice. "A couple of beautiful looking trees?"

"Besides you two," I corrected myself. And Edward.

"Come on, Bella," begged Alice. "Say you'll come, please? You won't regret it, I promise."

I found it quite difficult to say no with the look she was giving me, and Rosalie wasn't helping either. They looked so persuasive, I just couldn't argue. I tried thinking of all the pros of going to this party and, surprisingly, thought of quite a few. The main one being that I would get the chance to get a feel for the kids in Forks; scope out the territory, so to speak. After considering my options, I smiled at Alice and Rosalie. Without even having to say anything, they understood and let out a couple of high pitched squeals on either side of me. That sound could leave a man deaf.

"We're going to have so much fun, Bella," Alice started. "Ooh and I know the perfect outfit for the party!"

"Slow down there, Aliceonista," I spoke up quickly. "Let's not get carried away here. There's still two weeks left."

"Gasp!" Alice covered her mouth with her hands dramatically. "Bella, have you learned nothing from me?"

"Hey, Bella," Rosalie whispered as Alice went off on a rampage. I glanced at her cooking up a storm, spewing words like dresses and stilettos, and then turned back to Rosalie wiggling her eyebrows playfully at me. "Think she'll notice if we sneak out?"

* * *

**So, what'd you guys think? Any theories, comments, suggestions, send them over. I'd love to hear them. **

**Thank you for all the reviews, story and favorite alerts. Y'all are awesome! **

**Until next chapter, **

**~*~Mimi-Love-4Ever **


	10. Chapter 9

***waves uncertainly* Hey, people. Not even gonna give you an excuse as to my lateness. Only that here is chapter 9, there is some language, and hope you enjoy! **

**Oh and I wanted to thank my awesome beta, Ohmyitsv. Plus my awesome motivators Sorcha Cullen and Shirley007. Love them all to death. :D **

**On with the chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

* * *

**Chapter 9:**

_Edward's POV_

"Ouch!" I cried after Alice dabbed a bit too much alcohol on my cuts.

"Stop crying like a baby." She laughed. "It's only a cut."

"Yeah, but it stings like hell," I muttered.

"Guess you should have thought of that before you went and got yourself into a fight, Edward," Alice reprimanded me. "Remind me again, _who_ exactly did you get into a scrap with?"

_James_. Fucking. _McGreggory_.

I seethed in my mind. Of course, I couldn't answer with the truth here because it would get me into more trouble than that guy was worth. Plus, it would certainly dig up old memories for Alice and I didn't want to do that to my sister. She's had enough with justliving it, who was I to bring her more sadness like that. I tried evading the question as effectively as I could, but I think she knew there was something I didn't want to tell her. Just as she was incessant on finding out things, she was also good at knowing when not to push for more -sometimes. I tried averting my eyes away from her knowing ones, but it was impossible.

"Fine." She pouted. "Keep it to yourself. I'll find out anyway and then you'll be hearing from me."

That almost made me crack and tell her the truth. Finding out from another person would be worse than me telling her straight out. I kept my mouth shut, though. A second later, the stinging of the alcohol had me flinching and withthe force Alice dabbed at my cut. I guess I deserved that. She finished torturing - I mean, helping me, and gave me one of those sister-like glares before putting away the First Aid kit. As far as luck went tonight, it was most certainly not on my side. I was just about to hide up in my room when Esme and Carlisle walked in. They stopped laughing immediately and Esme practically ran over to me.

"What happened?" she asked frantically, ghosting her fingers over my cut. I winced as she touched a little too hard.

"Alice," Carlisle called out warningly as she was about to slip out of the kitchen. She turned around and walked back to the seat she had been occupying not a couple of minutes ago.

"What happened?" Esme asked again, giving both of us a stern look.

Now, I could either tell them the truth, or _not_ tell them the truth. Either way, I was in trouble. Except that with one particular choice, I would be hurting Alice. Dammit.

"It's not Alice's fault, she can go," I replied, hoping they'd take my hint and let her go. Thankfully, Esme picked up on the subtly and let Alice head up to her room without anymore questions. Once my sister was away from the kitchen, Esme took her seat and waited patiently with Carlisle by her side. I had to be honest here, so I answered, "I saw James McGreggory."

An angry expression crossed both their expressions, but they remained silent and allowed me to continue. "I got into a fight with him at the theater in Port Angeles. That's all."

"Oh my." Esme touched the side of my shirt in concern. "You've got blood on your shirt. Carlisle?"

"It's not mine," I replied a little smugly. "It's his. I punched him rather hard, the bastard."

"Did he say anything, Edward?" Carlisle asked, seriously completely ignoring my language.

_"Alice is looking rather delicious, if I do say so myself. Of course, she does hang out with Rosalie."_

_"That's something you'd know about. Right, Edward?" _

I pushed past that and shook my head in response. Why I didn't just tell them the truth is beyond me. Besides the fact that I didn't want to worry them, it didn't feel right, and I had learned a while ago to trust those instincts. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll be letting Alice or Rosalie out of my sight unless they're with people I trusted. McGreggory was bad news. The last time I had seen him had been right before Rosalie's accident. I was convinced he'd had some part in the accident, but the police couldn't find any evidence to link him to it. He hadn't gotten away so easily with what he did to Alice, or almost did. The only reason why he's still around and not in jail is because of a miniscule technicality the judge had no patience to look past even through all the evidence presented.

"Edward?" Esme shook me gently, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"He didn't say anything," I told them.

I'm going to hell for all the lies I'm telling, I thought to myself.

"Can I go now?" I asked. "I've got practice tomorrow."

"Are you sure you should be practicing like that?"

"It's just a cut, mom," I assured her and added silently. _And a couple of bruised ribs. _"Oh, could you not tell Alice who I got into a fight with? I just couldn't tell her."

"We won't," Carlisle answered. "Go and get cleaned up, son."

I nodded at both of them and hurried up the stairs, thankful Alice wasn't waiting outside my room ready to ambush me. I found the reason why as I crossed her room silently; Jasper. His laughter slipped under the door and filled the empty hallway. I was about ready to do something irrationally stupid when I heard Rosalie's soft laughter follow Jasper's. I was left blinking in confusion. Not wanting to get an even bigger headache than the one I had already, I sighed and walked straight past their door to my room. At least my sister and her boyfriend weren't alone.

Once in my room, I felt the stillness around me begin to press in. I cursed myself, yet again, for lying to everyone. Not coming clean about anything, especially something that could be a potential for problem in the future, just made me feel like an even bigger douche. I banged my hand against the door in frustration and was instantly shocked with pain. I muttered angrily, "Dammit!"

Before I decided to further injure myself, I went tolay down on my bed and enjoyed the silence. Or rather, laid there hating it and missing my iPod. Where the hell _did _I leave it at? I had absolutely no idea how much time I spent just laying there until a hard knock on the door brought me out of my pity. I had a hunch as to who it was,and the fact that I heard a bear-like laugh seep in through the walls gave me a clue.

"Are you being emo in there, Eddie?" Emmett snickered. "Come on, open up. Alice said you beat up some poor guy on the street."

Ugh, Alice.

I shook my head and had no choice but to let him in or he'd ask too many wrong questions. As soon as I opened the door, Emmett strolled in like he owned the place and sat down on my desk, pushing aside my laptop rather carelessly. He sat in silence and stared at me; surely a joke already prepared if the mood got too dark.

"Start talking, Eddie-O." Yeah, like that.

"It wasn't some random dude I 'beat up'," I started from the get go. "It was James."

In the time it took for me to blink, Emmett changed from a regular pale to a startling shade of red and purple that almost made me yell for Carlisle. A murderous look took over his expression, which had me rethink my idea of telling him what had actually happened. He remained quiet, motioning for me to continue, and I did so hesitantly.

"Long story short, that . . . bastard," I spat through clenched teeth," brought up Alice and Rosalie. I knocked his ass out. Simple as that."

"That fu- uh, fudger," he censored himself. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Leave it, Em," I told him. "I want nothing more than to get rid of that bastard, but think of Rosalie and Alice. They went through hell and we're not putting them through that again."

He cursed under his breath and hopped down from the desk, instantly pacing in front of me. An occasional "bastard" would escape him every other few seconds or so. At least he wasn't exploding and drawing attention to our conversation from the other guys. I finally counted a dozen curses, three or four in a different language, when he calmed down enough to listen to what else I had to say.

"What happened after that?"

"I left him there on the floor of the theatre," I replied. _With Tanya_. "He got in a couple of hits, but nothing serious. He won't be bothering us for a while, and if he does, we'll be there to stop him."

Emmett nodded in response.

"I condensed the story for mom and dad, so don't let anything slip," I warned him. "Now, can I please be 'emo' in my room?"

Besides being a straw away from blowing up with anger, he snorted at me and walked out of my room without another word. This was a sucker punch to the nads.

I quitted moping around my room and changed out of my blood-stained clothes quickly. No use anyway. What's done is done, for now at least. One good thing _had_ come out of this, though; I was no longer involved with Tanya. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to let everyone know without accidentally letting slip a thing or two I wasn't supposed to. I could just tell Alice;I'm sure she'd let everybody know quickly and efficiently. Yeah, I should tell Alice. Problem solved. The second I settled on that, I began feeling like a complete wuss. It was my situation and Alice shouldn't have to do anything. I was glad when Esme called us down for dinner; I was beginning to feel even more frustrated than before.

I was passing by Alice's room when Rosalie practically jumped out at me. She attacked me in a bear-like hug -must have learned it from my brother -and punched me in the arm. All happenedat the same time, so it was no wonder I was confused.

"Yeah, thanks for that, Rosalie," I muttered sarcastically.

"The hug was because you finally broke it off with Tanya." She laughed then turned serious. "The punch was because you didn't tell us."

I gaped at her. "How'd you know? Usually it's Alice that guesses these kinds of things."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Tanya called me and spilled the whole thing."

"She freaking called you?"

"Yep," nodded Rosalie. "You'd think she'd get the message that we're not friends and there's really nothing I would do to get you two hooked up. At all."

I wondered worriedly if Tanya had spilled everything that had happened or just the part that had ended it between us. After a quick inspection of Rosalie's happy expression, I concluded she hadn't been told the whole story, which was good.

"Sooo," she began casually. My eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You heard about Mike's party?"

"I have, in fact," I replied cautiously. "No. Don't even think about it, Rose. I'm not going."

She pouted. "But why? It'll be so much fun!"

"Yeah, for you." I shook my head. "I don't want to spend the whole night fighting off girls now that, I'm sure, Tanya will be spreading the word about this."

"Stop being such a party pooper, Eddie boy," teased Rose before a dangerous glint appeared in her eyes. "Besides, you'll never know who youmay find. Just saying." She punched me on the arm one last time and glided down the stairs, letting out a laugh or two on the way.

Seems like everyone wants to try Alice's style. Unless Bella magically appears, I doubt I'd want to be surprised by anyone. The chances of her being there, though, were slim to none.

"Bye guys!" Alice and Rosalie yelled from downstairs. "We'll see you at the party!"

I glanced at the clock in confusion and saw it was barely 6 P.M. Too damn early to arrive at a party, especially if this was Alice we were talking about, so we were all clearly surprised when she announced her early departure. I think even Esme was surprised by the news. I tried to shrug it off as an Alice thing, but the girls had been acting rather strangely for the past two weeks. In between all the secretive whispers amongst themselves and leaving the house practically all day, every day, I began to get suspicious.

Those girls were definitely up to something, especially with all the side glances they threw at me. It kind of made me feel like a lab rat, for some reason. Without even thinking very hard about it, I knew they were plotting something. It was the actual plan they had thought out that was unnerving me, and I wanted to know what. This was Alice and Rosalie we were talking about. As soon as the door closed, Emmett came running down the stairs and slipped on the last three steps, landing on the floor in a quite comical way. The confused expression was too much,causing me to burst out laughing, gaining his attention.

"Shut it, Eddie-emo-boy." He grinned from the ground. "Hey, was that Rose leaving with Alice?"

I nodded and plopped down on the couch, turning on the TV.

"Damn!" He hissed quietly and pulled himself up. "I wanted to see her too . . ."

Confused, I turned fully and faced him. "See who? You see Rose all the time."

Emmett looked like a deer caught in headlights. He began laughing then ran out of the living room shouting something behind him I couldn't quite understand. There went another suspicious person. Maybe I was looking too much into the situation - wouldn't be the first time.

About an hour later, Jasper walked into the house,talking on his cell phone. "Yeah, yeah, we're leaving the house as we speak, darlin'. No, of course I'm not just saying that."

I snorted loudly, I was torn between interrupting him and just leaving it alone. I should've probably interrupted him, but Emmett decided to do that for me. He snuck up behind Jasper and began yelling.

"Dude, where are my pants? Why didn't you wake me up from my nap?" He shouted as Jasper tried to cover his phone.

From this distance, I could hear my sister shouting,"You're still at the house?"

"I'm taking a long relaxing bubble bath," continued Emmett. "Should take about an hour or so."

"Jasper!" Alice shouted. "Get your butt to this party and drag those two idiots I call brothers with you!"

"Now I'm an idiot," I chuckled, getting up from the couch. "Let's go before she comes to the house and really drags us to that party."

"Ow!" Emmett hissed. "Damn, Jazz. Watch that fist, would you?"

"Stop being a baby, I simply punched you," laughed Jasper. "I'm not a goalie just because."

"Just get in the car," I said, shaking my head at their bantering.

The ride to Mike Newton's place was surprisingly trouble-free. I thought Emmett for sure was going to be jumping all over the place like he usually does. Instead, he remained a little too calm for my taste; even Jasper was giving him strange looks. Once I parked my car, he started fidgeting in his seat and threw open the door in his haste to get out, but not before pulling me out of the driver's seat. I nearly tripped in the process.

"What the hell, Emmett?"

"We're gonna be late," he answered simply. "You never know who you might meet."

"You and Rose spend too much time together," I muttered.

"Ah," grinned Emmett. "I'm gonna marry that woman."

"Not without a proper life plan you're not," Jasper interrupted. "This is my sister you're talking about. I doubt my sister wants to marry yet anyway."

"Stop crushing my dreams, man." Emmett smacked him. "Not yet, I agree. I want her to accomplish her dreams first."

"Aww, Emmy-bear. That was so sweet."

Rosalie greeted us, with a huge smile on her face, and jumped into Emmett's arms. Jasper and I gave them some privacy. We didn't want to see them making out anyway. Jasper may have been a calm, collected kind of guy,but mess with his sister and you're done for. As we neared the house, we began to hear the fast, heavy pounding of music vibrating through the walls and the chit chatter of the people inside. Alice immediately dragged Jasper away to dance in the swarm of people, leaving me completely alone and at the mercy of the first girl to notice me. Trying my best to sneak through the sea of students partying, I made my way from the front door and across the living room.

"Edward," Aiden called from somewhere in the room. "Hermano, didn't know you'd be here."

"Yeah, me neither," I replied with a shrug.

"Tanya's here, you know," he said.

"Great." I sighed. "What'd she say?"

"Ehh, not much," answered Aiden. "Keeping a rather low profile . . . that is, until she starts drinking. You'll be in trouble then. So, you broke up with her."

"You don't sound surprised," I pointed out.

He laughed loudly and clapped me on the shoulder. "Dude, I'm surprised it took you this long to do it, but I knew you would eventually."

"I guess." I shrugged again.

"After all, she's not the kind of girl for you," grinned Aiden.

"And you know this how?"

"Well, let's just say I'm a very good judge of character," Aiden replied mysteriously.

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better." He laughed and scanned the room before turning back to me.

"You're like my cousin," he began.

"If you start setting me up, I swear I'm going to kic-"

"No, no, no!" He interrupted me. "I'm just saying. You're like my cousin."

"Okay." I eyed him warily. He was one of my best friends, but he had the tendency of getting himself involved in my personal life a little too much, just like my family.

"You guys would be perfect, though," Aiden finally burst out.

"Aiden," I gritted my teeth warningly. Bella's sweet smile suddenly flashed through my mind. I don't think I could even look at another girl now that I'd met her.

"Hey, I'd prefer my baby cousin tostay away from boys," he said defensively. "But you're one of the nice guys."

"Don't nice guys finish last?"

He rolled his eyes at me. "Nah, that's just a saying to keep the competition away. Any 'nice guy' would know that."

"Good to know." I chuckled.

"She's in town . . ." He started, but Alice chose that moment to appear.

"Hey, Aiden." She giggled.

"Why hello, _dolce ragazza_," he greeted her.

"Stop putting the moves on my sister." I laughed.

"What?" Aiden lifted his hands in a surrender motion. "I just said hello sweet girl."

"That's all you better have said." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Sure, sure," he brushed me off non-chalantly.

"Come on, Edward, Aiden. We're at a party." Alice laughed freely. "Have some fun!"

"How many have _you_ had?" I asked her.

"Puh-lease." Alice rolled her eyes at me. "I don't need that to have a good time;you know that."

Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie appeared at her side quickly. Emmett was trying to suck face with Rose, but she kept pushing him away. Can't say it wasn't hilarious watching him get rejected. As Rose pushed him away one more time -I'm sure she was secretly enjoying it -she turned to me and dropped her voice down lower so only we could hear.

"Tanya is looking for you, just so you know," whispered Rose. "And I think she's past sober, so I suggest you get a move on."

No need to tell me twice.

I ran into the sea of sweaty, dancing bodies in hopes to lose Tanya's eyes on me, if she hadn't seen me already. I got lucky and managed to dodge many fawning girls, safely reaching the other end of the living room. Most of the people in the hallway, and littering into the kitchen, were couples too involved with themselves to care about anything else around them. Not the most ideal place for me either. I didn't need to be reminded of ... Bella. My beautiful stranger.

Just as her beautiful face popped into my mind, one of the couples bumped into me roughly and broke me out of my stupor. I almost ran out of the hallway and into the big, spacious kitchen where they were playing poker. I was no expert, but they looked to be one game away from _strip_ poker. Rather than witness that, I just grabbed a water bottle hidden in one of the cupboards and exited the kitchen through the other door leading to the Entertainment room, which was filled with more people dancing and chatting. Seems like I was running out of places to hide. Damn.

I believe I played this hide-and-seek game by myself for an hour or so. My siblings, Jasper and Rose would check up on me at random times. Aiden would pop out of nowhere,directing me to new areas of the house so I wouldn't meet face-to-face with Tanya. Although I was very grateful for that, I was beginning to get suspicious again. The side glances they happened to give each other weren't helping the matter. I finally had enough of it and headed into the patio, ready to find my friends and demand what was going on. I spotted Jasper talking to a brunette; he was chuckling and had a huge smile on his face. The girl's back was turned to me so I couldn't see who she was, but Jasper hadbetter not be flirting with her.

As I got closer to them, I heard faint and sweet laughter float around in the air. My heart almost stopped at the sound. I knew who that belonged to, but could it be? Could it be . . . my Bella?

Before I could crash through the glass doors leading outside, Emmett and Rose blocked my way. I growled at their intrusion and side stepped them, but when I scanned the deck for Jasper and the mysterious brunette, I found no one. There were just people messing around and enjoying the party. But they had just been there! I looked around, but came up empty.

Maybe I was finally losing it?

"So, has Tanya seen you yet?" Emmett asked. I could tell right away he was trying to stall me.

"Or any other girl for that matter?" Rose added in,smirking.

"Are you sure Tanya is even here?" I asked annoyed. "I haven't seen her at all, or her clique of friends."

They both shared a quick look then turned to me. "What were we talking about?"

I opened my mouth to yell at them, but thought better of it and just turned around and walked away. There was no point in having come here.I just wasted my time. I think I had enough of this party.

"Edward! Where are you going?" Emmett yelled behind me, but I ignored him, lest I say something I might regret.

I carried on in silence, walking past a group of giggling girls trying to get handsy with me, and headed out through the back door. The last thing I needed was to be seen and stopped by someone going through the _front_ door. I imagine the rumors were already starting and I did not need something else to fuel that fire. Living in a small town could get really irritating with the way gossip spread some of the time. Careful not to bump into anyone, I sneaked out into the cold night. Immediately, the pressure of irritation lessened considerably with the fresh air and cleared my head. Even the music seemed to disappear in the silence outside, for which I was grateful.

My feet carried me to the side of the house where my car was parked not too far away. I didn't want to leave my siblings here with no ride, or Jasper and Rosalie, but I'm sure they'd find a ride back. I could come back for them later, though. With that settled, I began walking again when something heavy whacked me on the head.

"Son of a . . . biscuit eating bulldog!" I hissed in pain.

I blinked rapidly to try to get my vision to clear from the red spots and touched my head gently. I flinched as I neared the spot where, whatever it is that hit me, smacked into my head. There was no blood, thankfully, just a lot of pain. After glancing down at the ground, I noticed the most random item there. Most likely the main suspect of my injury; a shoe.

A freaking stiletto shoe. More deadly than a knife.

I picked it up carefully and looked up the side of the house. A large balcony rested above me. I caught a movement through the rails and had to walk back a bit to get a better look. There was definitely a person up there and if the shoe had anything to do with that, it was a girl. Why the hell would they throw a shoe at me? Not to be arrogant at all, but I was rather liked around here by the girls,so they shouldn't be throwing anything at me. The girl on the balcony kept moving around - pacing - and I had to step back even further to catch a glimpse of her face.

The only thing I could get a clear image of was her ruffled short skirt and tight blue top. As I took an even further step backwards, I caught locks of brown hair blowing in the breeze. For some reason,my heart sped up and dropped to my stomach. It wasn't until the girl stopped her incessant pacing and turned in my direction; the sound of a loud cell phone ringing breaking through the near silence. I finally caught sight of the girl and froze in my place.

"Bella."

My beautiful stranger gasped as her eyes connected with me. I expected her to smile and recognize who I was. The expression coming over her face, instead, was one of worry and apprehension. The words beginning to tumble from her mouth were not my name.

"Mom?"

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**So, what'd you guys think? Lemme know all the details. **

**Another little cliffy, I know. But there is a reason for it. Hehe. **

**Hope you guys liked it and thank you for reading. **

**~ * ~ Mimi-Love-4Ever**


	11. Chapter 10

**Here is Chapter 10 of Identity, and yes I know I'm horrible. On with the story. Thank you to my awesometastical beta Ohmyitsv. Kisses to you, darling. **

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**Chapter 10**

_Renee's POV_

_I had to do this, as much as I hated to. _

_How do I protect the man I loved from the things coming after me without hurting him? I didn't have an answer and there was no way I could wait around to find out. As much as I hated to do this _-_ to leave my Charlie without his wife and baby girl_ -_ I just had to. A quick scan of the room was the last thing I did before zipping up my bags and placing them at the front of the bed. Pictures . . . memories . . . stared back at me_ -_ taunting. All with one basic question: Why are you leaving, silly girl? _

_My eyes closed of their own volition and the very pictures began forming in my mind like a film without sound. The tears I was trying to suppress finally came free and flowed down my face silently. A small kitten cry from the room across the hall brought me back to the present and my little girl. My Bella. I entered her nursery and cradled her in my arms. Her expression instantly calmed me and those beautiful brown eyes so like her father's stared back up at me. There was no accusation in her innocent eyes. _

_"Shh, my darling," I cooed. "You'll be safe." _

_I sat in the rocking chair next to the window and allowed the early morning sun to bathe over me, giving me strength with its warmth. Bella quieted down and fell asleep to the soothing motions and my voice. _

_"You need your father, little one. I'm sorry you won't be able to grow up with him like I had hoped," I whispered. "He will always be here for you. He can hate me, but he would never hold any resentment towards you. You'll be the bond that keeps us together when all else falls away." _

_I was starting to nod off into sleep when the quick rapping at the door startled me awake. Fear for my little Isabella was ever present in my mind, but the knowledge that I was not defenseless kept me from doing something stupid. I settled__my baby girl down in her crib, covered her up with her blanket, and headed downstairs. I waited for a few seconds when the gentle voice of my best friend seeped into the room. _

_"Renee," her voice floated in. "All is safe." _

_"As safe as it should," I replied back and opened the door. "Esme. Carlisle." _

_The young couple in front of me stared back in concern and anxiety. I couldn't help but think that it was my fault that they were thrown into this chaos. I had asked them to help, and while they had agreed without hesitation, they didn't just have themselves to think of anymore. They had a family. A beautiful family. In their arms they carried a sleeping little girl and boy, both covered well. I quickly ushered them inside and away from any prying eyes. _

_"Are you really going to do it, Renee?" Esme asked softly, sitting down on the couch. I nodded curtly. "Charlie?" _

_"He doesn't have to know," I forced the words out. "Please don't tell him anything." _

_I caught the hesitant look in their eyes. _

_"Perhaps you should, Renee," Carlisle spoke up. "You can't do this to him and not leave an explanation as to why." _

_"Carlisle, don't." I shut my eyes tightly. Every possible point he could bring up, I already knew. "I don't need another reason to stay, I have plenty. I know them all."_

_"If you have so many, why must one single reason overturn your whole life?" He asked. "Charlie's a good man, Renee. He deserves an explanation and a chance to convince you to stay." _

_"Please don't do this to me," I begged. _

_"Carlisle," Esme whispered. _

_"But if this is your decision, I will support you," sighed Carlisle, a hint of defeat behind his voice. "When will you be leaving then?" _

_After a momentary pause in which I heard my little Bella cry upstairs, I gave Carlisle a serious look before heading up the steps and to Bella's nursery. I carried her in my arms once again and went back down. I settled down in the other couch and waited for Esme or Carlisle to speak again. They were trying to talk me out of it. I knew it was cowardly how I was handling the situation, but I just didn't have the strength to face things head on like they wanted me to. I was but a mere 21 year old with a two year old child to think about. _

_Carlisle placed the little boy next to Esme on the couch and walked over to me. He held out his arms and I released my hold on my baby over to him. He was my step-brother after all and I trusted him implicitly, but to hand over such a big part of you was hard. I watched protectively as he rocked her gently and even made Bella smile and coo back at him. _

_Without looking away from Bella, he asked, "Where will you go?" _

_I shrugged, unsure. "I'm not sure yet, but I'll let you both know when I reach wherever it is that I'm heading to." _

_"Please take care of yourself, Renee," Esme pleaded. "I don't want to find out that my best friend went missing, or little Bella." _

_"You take care of yourself as well." I glanced between them. "And of those little babies." _

_"We will." Esme nodded. "We gave Elizabeth and Edward-Anthony our word that we would take care of Alice and Edward as if they were our very own." _

_"So it's true." It was more of a statement than question. _

_"I'm afraid so," Carlisle whispered. "The Hales have already made the arrangements for their funeral while we're away. Alice and Edward will need a break to get used to their new home and us, so we decided it was best to go up north and visit some family members. We'll be back in a year or so." _

_"I can just imagine how much those little ones will miss their parents." I teared up again. "But they have you two now." _

_"How long will you expect them to leave you be, Renee?" Carlisle suddenly asked. "Especially after the so-called potential the Volturi heads have seen in you." _

_"I don't know." I really had no answers to any of these questions. "Let me worry about that, okay?" _

_They nodded hesitantly. _

_"Charlie's going to demand an answer from us," Carlisle added in one last time. He looked upon Bella one last time then gently placed her back in my arms and picked up little Edward from the couch. "Bye, Renee." _

It was with a heavy heart that I sent my little Bella away from my side. After everything that was happening, I couldn't keep an eye out for her on top of the things I already had to take care of. Being with Charlie would be best for her anyway; she'd be away from the prominent danger and it was time those two spent some time together. After all, I had separated Charlie from his daughter for too long. Perhaps it was my way of making up for running out on him all those years ago. Whatever the reason was, both were safe and that was all that mattered.

Two quick taps on the door to my office broke me from my pensive memories and brought me back to reality. I cleared my throat professionally and organized the scattered papers on my desk before standing up and opening my office door cautiously. I almost gasped in surprise when I saw Aro De La Volturi and his assistant Gianna in front of me; not because the boss's presence shocked me, but because Aro was supposed to be in a safe place for the time being. It was what we all had agreed on.

If Aro was here, then that meant that Marcus and Caius were here as well. I sighed in resignation and invited them into my office; surely they had a good excuse to be here. Aro waltzed right in and sat in front of my desk while Gianna remained standing behind him taking notes. I returned back to my chair and waited for him to speak. For a couple of seconds, he simply stared at me with a seemingly triumphant smile on his face. I sat up straighter and had to stop myself from demanding to know what this unexpected visit meant.

"Renee," he started calmly.

"Aro," I returned with equal calmness.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here," continued Aro.

"Naturally." I picked up on the subtle demeanor his body took on, so similar to the stances which he presented himself with during meetings - His favorite; the game of cat and mouse.

"One of our informants has presented me with some interesting news regarding our . . . situation." Aro coughed slightly. As always, he was hesitant to confirm it out loud. Our situation was the information leak in the Volturi Corporation. He seemed to be under the impression that it was some petty block in the way, but it was more than that. A lot more.

I silenced any comments I had and nodded at him to continue.

"They're closer to finding out what started all this," he said. "It's looking more and more like an inside job rather than an accidental stumble. At this pace, no damage will have become permanent."

My anger got the best of me; I had to speak my mind.

"Aro," I gritted through my teeth. "This situation is serious. We have a big problem here."

"Why now, Renee," chuckled Aro rather unfazed. "This is just a stumble in the big picture. You're head of our affairs, you should know this."

"Yes and as that, I'm telling you that we have a serious problem," I forced out more firmly. "All of our identities have been compromised, not to mention possibly that of our families as well. If that information is taken to the wrong people, you of all people should know the danger it may cause."

Aro's eyes flickered with an unknown emotion for just one second before they returned to their usual amused-filled gray eyes. I knew I had struck a cord within him, a dangerous one. Gianna scribbled something down in her notebook and raised an eyebrow daringly at me. She knew what I was talking about and the truth of that pissed her off. I returned my attention back to Aro and found him scrutinizing me. I kept my calm facade as he did so.

"How's your family, Renee?" He asked slowly. My heart sped up until it felt like the people in the hallway could hear it and caused my instincts to jump start. "You know that scholarship is still open for your little Isabella. Quite bright, that child of yours. We could use a mind like hers in the corporation some day."

I prayed my voice didn't waver as I spoke. "They're fine. Safe."

"Are they really?"

If he was trying to test me, or watch me squirm, I forced myself not to respond to this inquisition. I had my own informants loyal to me that would have contacted me should my family be in any danger. I held on to that piece of certainty.

"Yes."

"Then what do you have to be worried about?" He asked. "All of our associates and clients have signed a contract with us. They know the risks quite well."

"It is also stated in the contract that we must provide them safety, in both times of order and trouble," I reminded him in case he had forgotten.

Aro's eyes flashed as he leaned forward in his chair. "We are providing them with protection, Renee." I held his stare without wavering. "What they do with it is not our responsibility. We're not held liable. All of them understand that, as I made it very clear."

"All the more reason for them to try and fault us should something go wrong with this information leak," I stated. "Some of our . . . business . . . partners are not as understanding as you may think, Aro."

At my insinuation, he straightened up. "I'm quite aware of what they think. I have been running this corporation for over 25 years, my dear. I am not some neophyte getting a feel for the business."

"Mr. De La Volturi," Gianna interrupted suddenly, cutting me off before I could respond. "Your meeting, sir."

"Ah, yes." Clearing his throat, Aro stood up and flashed me a smile. "We shall talk later, Renee. In private."

I nodded, and watched Gianna throw me a quick glare before guiding Aro out of my office. Rather quickly, might I add. As soon as they were gone, I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.

Aro failed to see the seriousness of the matter. Either that or he was playing one of his games on me yet again. He could possibly be testing me. I wouldn't put it past him, but there was so much more at stake now. The corporation for one, and while that did not worry me as much as Aro thought it did, the consequences that accompanied the fall, however, were very important. Lives were at play here and that did not seem to make Aro cautious in his games. And he was playing a very dangerous game.

The phone at the corner of my desk had never looked so inviting before. To say I was tempted to call my baby girl to make sure she was okay would be a big understatement, but I had to stick to the rules. My rules. No use thinking about it now, I guess. There was nothing I could do directly, so it was best to just leave it alone. Another rap-tap-tap at the door caught my attention.

"Come in," I called out, running my hands through me loose hair in exhaustion.

My assistant, Nikolas, popped his head in with his usual smile and walked right in. His bright hazel eyes were wide awake and usually unruly, blonde hair was tamed. "Good morning, Ms. Renee."

"Nik, you know I hate when you call me that." I groaned.

He shrugged apologetically and pointed to the door. "Mr. De La Volturri."

I glanced at the door silently, near silent footsteps echoed down the hall quickly.

"Ahh, listening in, was he?" I shook my head in disapproval. "Gianna was a little too enthusiastic to take him away again."

"That bitch." Nikolas laughed. "You'd think she'd get the memo that Aro is not sleeping with her. Sulpicia would have her head."

"Enough of gossip, you woman," I joked playfully.

He struck a rather feminine pose before sitting down on the chair and taking out his tablet PC and pen. The tablet scanned his thumb and turned on immediately. He wrote a couple of things down before looking back up at me, ready and prepared to take note of anything I said, just like the perfect assistant he was. I stood up once again, straightening out my clothes, and put on my jacket.

"Let's go Nikolas." I cleared my throat. "The meeting starts in five minutes."

Nikolas nodded quietly as he took notice of the subtle change in my demeanor, and grabbed my suitcase on the way out of my office. The hallway was empty on either side of me and every little noise seem to echo; I couldn't help but compare it to a ghost town in a way. Desolate. Abandoned. I shook off the feelings and walked down the hall towards the elevator, Nikolas hot on my trail.

I mustered every ounce of confidence I owned and marched right into the conference room. These men and women demanded respect, just like I did, but they also wouldn't hesitate to exploit my fear should they catch a glimmer of it. They knew me as dangerous, manipulative Renee Avery.

"Ladies and gentlemen," I called the attention of the heads. "Please take your seats. We have a lot to cover and very little time to do so."

Everyone shuffled to their seats and glanced at the thick folder in front of them. All the assistants, besides Nikolas, walked out of the conference room, leaving us in silence. My laptop had already been set up for the meeting and with just one touch, the projector turned on, the lights dimmed, and the problem that had been on all our minds flashed on the screen.

I cleared my throat discreetly. "We have yet to find the source of the leak in the corporation. There have been some complications."

"Aro assured us the leak would be fixed by now," one of the heads spoke. "If Aro can't keep his word..."

"Aro is not in charge of this operation," I interrupted rather rudely. "I am."

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**Let me know what you thought. **

**Thank you for reading! **

**~*~Mimi-Love-4Ever**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey y'all! Here's chapter 11 of Identity! Enjoy. **

**Thanks to my awesometastical beta, Ohmyitsv. **

**Disclaimer: Well of course I do not own Twilight. **

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Previously in Chapter 10:

_I mustered every ounce of confidence I owned and marched right into the conference room. These men and women demanded respect, just like I did, but they also wouldn't hesitate to exploit my fear should they catch a glimmer of it. They knew me as dangerous, manipulative Renee Avery._

_"Ladies and gentlemen," I called the attention of the heads. "Please take your seats. We have a lot to cover and very little time to do so."_

_Everyone shuffled to their seats and glanced at the thick folder in front of them. All the assistants, besides Nikolas, walked out of the conference room, leaving us in silence. My laptop had already been set up for the meeting and with just one touch, the projector turned on, the lights dimmed, and the problem that had been on all our minds flashed on the screen._

_I cleared my throat discreetly. "We have yet to find the source of the leak in the corporation. There have been some complications."_

_"Aro assured us the leak would be fixed by now," one of the heads spoke. "If Aro can't keep his word..."_

_"Aro is not in charge of this operation," I interrupted rather rudely. "I am."_

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**Chapter 11**

_Alice's POV_

Edward owes me big time, whether he knew it or not.

Who knew that the mystery girl he knew was the same Bella we all knew? We being Emmett, Rosalie and I. Funny coincidence... if I even believed in those, which I didn't, so it was just funny all around. Hear me laugh. Ha. Ha. Ha. I really should have pieced this together sooner,it was that obvious. Edward's googly eyes. Emmett's fascination. Rosalie's friendliness. And back to Edward's iPod; In a small town like Forks, this should have been top news in the gossip world, but apparently they all decided to make an exception. Oh sure, now they turn their heads, but when I accidentally tripped thanks to Newton, that flew around faster than fairy dust.

Anyway, back to Bella and Edward._Aww_, they sounded so cute together - I think it would be very lovely if they were a couple. For the short time I've known Bella, which is more than I can say for anyone else, I really liked her. Girls of Forks - 0. Bella - 1.

I was rather surprised at the turn of events last night, even with the amount of planning Rosalie and I made. We tried so hard to keep them from running into each before we could set up the perfect meeting. That did not turn out so well, I admit. But how was I supposed to know that Bella didn't like the beautiful stiletto heels I made her wear and she would end up throwing one off the balcony and it would end up hitting Edward in the head? Well, that's something you don't see everyday.

I'm not a psychic, you know.

It's a good thing Edward was too shocked to act when he saw his mystery girl. Emmett and Jasper had perfect timing and somehow managed to distract him long enough. However, Bella came to Rosalie and I rather upset for some reason. You'd think she'd be upset over losing her shoe, but something else was bothering her. She wouldn't tell us what it was, just that she needed to go home right away. I was the queen of the puppy-dog eyes, but she seriously put me to shame with the vulnerable expression she had. I didn't push her, and neither did Rosalie. We dropped Bella off at her house and offered to stay with her, seeing as Chief Swan wasn't home, but she explained she needed some time alone. Being the snoops that me and Rosalie were, we waited outside Bella's house for five minutes and found it strange that none of the lights inside ever turned on.

Instead of going back to the party, we crashed at my house and had the whole place to ourselves while the guys were still out. Mom and dad had gone on a date to Port Angeles. Esme was the one who did the asking, but it was dad who got romantic. Now, it was a known fact that Rosalie and I got a little... erm, conspiratorial when left alone. After all, it was us that predicted Angela Webber and Ben _Cheney_would end up together at prom last year. So it came as no surprise when our theories began to get a little out of control. Whom were we theorizing about? Edward and Bella. We were, that is, before the guys showed up. As predicted, Edward headed right upstairs and shut himself in his room. It kind of clicked why he hadn't been blasting music from his room for weeks now. Bella had his iPod. Why she did, when they were still a mystery to each other, is beyond my guesses.

That's why this whole day I had been trying to call Bella, but she hadn't returned any of my calls or text messages, or Rosalie's. I debated showing up at her house, yet something told me that would be a bad idea. At the moment, I had my own troubles to worry about. The first day of the new semester was tomorrow and I needed to figure out my outfit. Rosalie was in the same predicament.

"Hey, sweetheart." My thoughts blurred as I heard Jasper speak. Every cell in body turned to mush. I hopped down from the island and jumped into his waiting arms. He chuckled at my eagerness and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. "How's my favorite girl doing?"

"Meh. This and that." I grinned. "You staying over for dinner tonight?"

Jasper sighed quietly and nodded. "Dad just got home and is already packing for another business trip. Mom is leaving tomorrow after school."

"What? They've been away for almost a week," I complained.

"That's what Rose said." He nodded in agreement. "Which is why mom wanted to excuse her from school tomorrow and take her shopping as a way to make it up to her."

"Ooh, I bet Rose didn't take that well." I laughed softly. Rosalie hated when her parents fawned over her as a way to make up for all the days they were gone at a time because of their work, hence the reason both of them stayed at our house so much.

"Nope," Jasper responded, popping the 'p' dramatically. "She went off on them and shut herself in the music room upstairs."

"Damn. Should I come over?" I asked worriedly.

"Give her an hour or two to cool off," responded Jasper. "She'll come around."

"Okay, Jazz." Esme would surely hear about this, if her Mom radar didn't go off first. None of us liked it when Rose shut herself away, not after what she'd been through.

"Cheer up, darling." Jasper smiled, tipping my head up with his finger. "She doesn't know what to wear tomorrow and will, therefore, come running over soon."

That definitely cheered me up.

"Jazz man!" We jumped about a foot in the air as Emmett's voice thundered inside the kitchen suddenly. I rubbed my head where I had bumped into Jasper's chin in surprise and glared at my big brother. Damn Emmett. "Game's on, dude, let's go!"

"I'll be there in a minute." Jasper waved him off. Emmett shrugged and headed back into the living room, leaving us alone again. "I came here to spend time with you."

I swooned internally. God, this man was amazing. "It's okay, Jasper. You can go watch the game. I still need to get ready."

"You sure, doll?" I smiled and pecked his lips in reassurance.

"I'll be right upstairs if you need anything." I giggled suggestively. He growled softly in response to my teasing. "Just saying." I kissed his lips once again and waltzed out of the kitchen without another word.

I heard him mutter to himself, "Tease."

I threw one of the couch pillows at Emmett on my way to the stairs and ran up to my room. Edward was still stuck in his room. I plopped down on my bed and stared at my closet to see if I would get any inspiration. Maybe I should start with some cute shoes and accessories, and then pick the rest. That could work. I was about to get up when my phone vibrated from my pocket. I flipped it open quickly, thinking it was Rosalie, but instead was surprised to hear Bella's voice instead.

"Bella?"

"Hey, Alice," she greeted me. "I hope I'm not interrupting," Bella said. "I can call back later."

I laughed. "Not at all. What's up?"

"Erm..." She hesitated. "I just wanted to ask about..." We both suddenly blurted out two different things.

"Edward?"

"Clothes."

Could you tell I was anxious to set them up? There was a minute of silence between us before we burst out laughing for a good five minutes. I cleared my throat and sobered up.

"Clothes, huh? How may I be of service?"

"Well, how should I dress for tomorrow?" asked Bella. "I'm sure you can see how different Arizona and Forks are in clothing styles."

"Definitely dress warm since you're not used to the weather like we are," I answered. "A sweater is a must for you and boots, too, but that's no excuse to dress like a shlob."

"That makes perfect sense," Bella hummed in agreement. "Just one other question."

"Yes?"

"What the hell is a shlob?"

I rolled my eyes playfully and dove into an explanation of what a shlob was. It didn't take a genius to figure out what Bella had really wanted to ask about. It also didn't take another genius to figure out who had just passed by my door.

* * *

I honestly don't know how we made it through the morning with all the chaos at our house. Books missing. Backpacks flying all over the place. Keys under the couch. Favorite lip gloss out of stock! Well, that last one was mine, but all the same. All us kids left at the same time from the house, yet we all managed to get to school late. How that happened, I have no idea. It was like one of those seemingly impossible math problems we all hated. If car 1 and car 2 leave point A at 7 AM, and car 1 is going 40 mph... ugh, headache. The point was, even though we were late and it was a hassle getting our time tables, we made it to lunch. Surprisingly, I didn't have a single morning class with Bella, although Rose and Emmett did. Think I could persuade the counselor to change that?

I was sitting in fifth period English with Edward when my phone vibrated in my pocket. Bella's name flashed across the screen. I glanced at my brother quickly to make sure he hadn't noticed anything before flipping it open.

_... You know Edward, don't you?_

- B

I had to stop the squeal of excitement threatening to burst from inside me. It was only a matter of time before she asked. I waited until the teacher had her back turned before replying back.

_I thought you'd never ask!_ _He's my brother. _

- A

_Holy... This _would_ happen to me. Erm, has he mentioned me? _

- B

_This conversation would be best face to face, Bella. Especially because he's sitting right next to me._

- A

"Who are you texting, Alice?" I closed my phone quickly and stuffed it in my pocket, then flashed Edward a smile.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I whispered back. "Now pay attention."

He remained silent for a few minutes. "In a town this small, you knew it was Bella, didn't you?"

"Dear brother, there are seldom things I don't know about." I rolled my eyes. "Tanya does not hold your attention like that. I knew it right away that day in the hospital. Besides, it wasn't that hard to figure out if you looked closely enough. So, are you going to talk to her?"

"I haven't even seen her today." He frowned. "I've been debating on what to say to her since I saw her at the party on Saturday."

"You'll have to explain this all to me later, but you should definitely just talk to her when you do see her," I calmed him. "She's a pretty cool girl, and any girl with the ability to throw a stiletto at you is a friend of mines."

"Shut up," he murmured.

"And yes, I see that blush," I teased him.

"Annoying sisters," he huffed, turning away from me.

"I'm just saying." I shrugged. "The guys are going to be all over her, if they haven't already." Edward remained silent and turned his attention back to the teacher. He knew I was right. I'm sure his thoughts were now flying a mile a minute in very typical Edward form. I followed suit and actually began paying attention.

The rest of class went by in silence between Edward and I with the teacher droning on and on about grammar. We all just about jumped from our seats the second the bell rang signaling lunch. I parted from Edward and skipped to my locker to drop off my math book and saw Rose not too far away... making out with Emmett. Typical. I rolled my eyes and walked over to them, poking them on their sides. A strangled squeak slash whine erupted from them as they turned to glare at me.

"Lunch time," I sang loudly and made a run for the cafeteria. They followed, both intent on making me suffer for interrupting, I'm sure.

"You'll pay for that one, shorty," Rose growled and got in line to get lunch. "When you least expect it."

"Love you too, girl." I gave her a cheeky smile.

"Yeah, yeah, we all love each other," Emmett butted in. "Food!"

"You can be such a guy sometimes," said Rose, grabbing her tray.

"I happen to know you quite enjoy me being a guy," Emmett said slyly.

"Awkward turtle, guys," I spoke up before they could reveal anymore information. "Let's just go sit down, please."

They shrugged and paid for their food. We made our way to the back of the cafeteria where Edward and Jasper were sitting and sat down. As soon as we sat down at our lunch table, the doors to the cafeteria opened and everyone fell silent. Bella. I grinned and jumped up from the table, along with Rosalie, and went to greet her. Cue gossip in three, two, one... A gentle murmur erupted from the surrounding tables, but that was to be expected.

What I didn't expect was Tanya's two little lap dogs making a bee line towards Bella as well. I knew Bella was more than capable of taking care of herself - I mean, her personality said it all - and I shouldn't even worry, but my friend spidey senses were going off. Once Tanya appeared in the mix, I sighed in irritation and threw Edward a glare. This _had _been his girlfriend once,after all, so he needed to take care of this right now. Especially if he wanted any chance with Bella, I added silently. One minute it seemed a fight was imminent, then the next, Aiden came strutting out of nowhere and put his arm around Bella's shoulders.

I think everyone just about died then.

Including Rosalie and me.

The soft murmuring of gossip increased to another level once everyone got over their shock. These people should at least have the decency to keep it to themselves, but no, that's high school for you.

"Is that the new girl?"

"_That's_ Chief Swan's daughter?"

"How is she looking so cozy with Aiden Corazon? Slut!"

"Oh my gawd, Edward Cullen is staring at her too!"

Bella turned to him and smiled sweetly, before smirking at Tanya. I stared open-mouthed and glanced at Edward, but he wasn't at the lunch table anymore. Uh oh...

"_C'è__ un problema_?" Aiden intervened swiftly and dashingly, like the heartthrob he was. Yes, he caught me as well. So sue me. "Is there a problem, ladies?

Tanya's bitchy demeanor changed to that of a sweet girl, although we all knew better. She giggled and flashed a smile. "Of course not, Aiden. We were just welcoming _Isabella_ to Forks High. Isn't that right, girls?"

The two girls on either side of her nodded a little too enthusiastically, not even bothering to conceal their attraction to him. Pathetic. There was an awkward moment of silence between all of us where we didn't know whether to move away or say something. I was about to pull Bella away to our table, and get her away from these plastics, when the almighty Edward Cullen finally appeared. Behind Tanya. Touching her shoulder. He's a dead man.

She grinned and had the nerve to kiss him right on the lips. I don't think I had ever wanted to slap my brother so much as I did right that moment. Even worse was the victorious expression Tanya had, like she had won. Psh, she wishes. Aiden and Rosalie were glaring intently at Edward, while Bella stared at him with a confused look. She shrugged slightly and her entire posture became guarded.

"Come on, Bella," Rosalie interrupted the silence. She took hold of her hand and walked to our table.

"_Che diavolo_, Edward?" Aiden growled. He was pissed. "What the hell?"

He nudged me gently and walked with me back to where the others were waiting. Rose looked ready to explode, but was holding back. I could tell it was taking a lot for her to keep quiet. There was a short awkward silence before Jasper cleared his throat and addressed Bella.

"Nice to see you again." He smiled. "Don't worry about Edward. He can be a real ass sometimes."

"You two know each other already?" I asked surprised.

Bella cracked a smile and nodded. "I met him at the party yesterday."

"Someone had to save her from Mike," Jasper chuckled.

"I can save myself, thank you very much," pouted Bella.

"Feisty." Emmett laughed. "I like it."

"Ugh, Emmett, don't say that again." Rose made a disgusted face and glanced at Bella knowingly. "And no, I'm not jealous."

"Anyway," I spoke up. "I think we all agree that Edward did was shitty." Everyone nodded, except Bella. "Next, Aiden, how do _you_ know Bella?"

"I'd have thought you'd all have guessed by now," grinned Aiden. "It's really not that hard to figure out."

"Ex-girlfriend?" Emmett asked.

Both looked at each other. "Ew... no."

"Current girlfriend?"

"That's just wrong." Bella shook her head.

"Tell me!" He burst out, jumping from his seat a little too excitedly and catching the attention of people in the nearby tables. He sat back down, glaring over my shoulder. "Edward."

"It's not wh-" Saved by the bell.

None of us let him finish whatever it was he needed to say. The cold shoulder was in affect. I hated doing this to my brother without even giving him the chance to explain himself, but I didn't agree with what he just did. I gave him an apologetic smile and headed to my next class with Jasper and the rest. Aiden was the only one that had to go in the opposite direction from us to his next class. He waved goodbye and ran down the hall. In an effort to get Bella to speak up, I asked her seemingly random questions.

"So, Bella, what class do you have next?"

"Biology," she replied casually. "Then P.E."

"Hmm, we have our last class together." I smiled at her. "That should be fun, even if it is P.E."

"Alright, guys, see you all after school." Rosalie and Emmett went their separate ways, leaving the three of us alone.

"I guess I should go too before I'm late." Bella rolled her eyes playfully.

"Bye Bella." I waved at her and turned to Jasper. "Well, lunch was a disaster."

He gave me an amused look. "You do know Edward has Biology too, right?"

"Why, that's lovely." I grinned dramatically. "Hip hip, hurray."

"Well, aren't you a fire cracker today, darling?" Jasper laughed putting his arm around me as we walked into our Art class together. "Mmm, I rather like it, if I may so be bold to say."

"You would," I muttered and took a seat at the back of the class.

An hour later, Bella, Aiden, Edward and I were sitting side by side in our P.E. class. Awkward did not even begin to cover it. Bella wanted to talk with Edward. Edward wanted to talk with Bella. Aiden did not want Bella talking with Edward and gave him the stink eye. I was just watching this and waiting for what would happen next. It was very entertaining to say the least. What wasn't entertaining was having to suit up while Bella got to relax on the benches. These shorts were so not flattering. Although it was a free day, we all had to do something for the next 30 minutes of class.

The guys got a soccer game going on in the field, while most of the girls walked around in laps. After the third lap and 15 minutes left to go, I convinced the teacher to let me relax on the benches with Bella. We talked about random things for a while before the guys**'** yelling got a little too loud and caught our attention. The first thing I noticed was Aiden and Edward on opposite teams, which was weird since they always played together no matter what.

"Oh boy..." I sighed. "This will not end pretty."

"What do you mean?" Bella asked.

"Aiden and Edward," I answered simply.

"Are those idiots still mad at each other?" She sighed too. "This is a whole misunderstanding, you know?"

"Misunderstanding?"

"Well, yeah," she responded. "Me and Aiden are in no way romantically linked. I think that's illegal."

"What?" I'm so confused.

"Cullen, Corazon. Knock it off!" The teacher yelled loudly.

Both glared at each other and moved to opposites sides of the field. Once the game had resumed again, they charged at each other in pursuit of the ball. I saw Edward push him a little too hard causing Aiden to trip. Aiden got up swiftly and ran after him and stuck his foot in front of him making him tumble to the ground. We all stared at them unsure of whether to laugh or be concerned.

"Dude, get it together." Aiden frowned at him. "Bella's my cousin."

* * *

**So, what'd you think? Lemme know. **

**Thank you for reading!**

**~*~Mimi-Love-4Ever**


	13. Chapter 12

**Two words: Writer's Block.**

_Recap:_

_Chapter 10:_

_I had to do this, as much as I hated to. _

_How do I protect the man I loved from the things coming after me without hurting him? I didn't have an answer and there was no way I could wait around to find out. As much as I hated to do this _-_ to leave my Charlie without his wife and baby girl_ -_ I just had to. A quick scan of the room was the last thing I did before zipping up my bags and placing them at the front of the bed. Pictures . . . memories . . . stared back at me_ -_ taunting. All with one basic question: Why are you leaving, silly girl?_

_xXx_

_I cleared my throat discreetly. "We have yet to find the source of the leak in the corporation. There have been some complications." _

"_Aro assured us the leak would be fixed by now," one of the heads spoke. "If Aro can't keep his word..." _

"_Aro is not in charge of this operation," I interrupted rather rudely. "I am."_

_Chapter 11:_

_Who knew that the mystery girl he knew was the same Bella we all knew. We being Emmett, Rosalie and I. Funny coincidence... if I even believed in those, which I didn't, so it was just funny all around. Hear me laugh. Ha. Ha. Ha. I really should have pieced this together sooner, it was that obvious. Edward's googly eyes. Emmett's fascination. Rosalie's friendliness. And back to Edward's iPod. In a small town like Forks, this should have been top news in the gossip world, but apparently they all decided to make an exception._

xXx

_"Oh boy..." I sighed. "This will not end pretty." _

_"What do you mean?" Bella asked. _

_"Aiden and Edward," I answered simply. _

_"Are those idiots still mad at each other?" She sighed too. "This is a whole misunderstanding, you know?" _

_"Misunderstanding?" _

_"Well yeah," she responded. "Me and Aiden are in no way romantically linked. I think that's illegal." _

_"What?" I'm so confused. _

_"Cullen, Corazon. Knock it off!" The teacher yelled loudly. _

_Both glared at each other and moved to opposites sides of the field. Once the game had resumed again, they charged at each other in pursuit of the ball. I saw Edward push him a little too hard causing Aiden to trip. Aiden got up swiftly and ran after him and stuck his foot in front of him making him tumble to the ground. We all stared at them unsure of whether to laugh or be concerned. _

_"Dude, get it together," Aiden frowned at him. "Bella's my cousin."_

* * *

**Chapter 12**

_Aiden's POV_

_This _was the guy I wanted to get together with my baby cousin, my best friend. Now I wasn't so sure, and it wasn't because I saw Bella like a little sister to me... No, it certainly wasn't that. Edward's mature display of testosterone pissed me off. Whatever the hell was going on in his mind seemed like an exaggerated view on what he _thought_had happened in the lunch room. But then he had to bring Tanya into the situation, and then it just got repugnant and exploded all over. I know he did it on purpose - the way he let her kiss him like that, and in front of us - and that itself stung.

As soon as the coach let us go, Edward disappeared into the locker room and out of sight. I was still standing in the same spot, simply looking, and glanced at my cousin with Alice. They were walking up the stairs of the stadium towards the girl's locker rooms. Bella looked over her shoulder and threw me a soft smile then continued walking. I couldn't help but be confused by it. Well, by the whole situation really. There was only one person that could settle all the questions and concerns I had. The problem: I was _warned_not to call. Quite a predicament it was. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

I finally moved from my spot and ran to the changing rooms. Seeing as it was already empty, there was no stopping to chat with classmates. The parking lot was pretty much the same by the time I left the school. The drive home was spent in silence. Even my chaotic thoughts were cooperating and for that I was grateful. It seemed everything was beginning to escalate and the climax was becoming inevitable. The inevitable part frightened me because it involved all of us, whether we knew it or not. Upon reaching my flat, I practically ran inside, locked the door, and headed up to my room. After waiting for a minute or two for any sign of an intrusion, I tipped one of the family portraits of us in Italy and revealed the safe behind it. I typed in the combination and pressed my thumb to the plate.

I removed the black, unmarked cell phone from inside it and quickly dialed the number I had memorized before I lost my nerve. There were exactly two rings before a never ending pause and short silence. I was unsure of the outcome of the conversation, but I needed to know before planning anything else.

"All is safe," the soft voice of a woman floated through the phone.

I replied back, sighing in relief, "As safe as it should."

"Aiden?"

I nodded even though I knew she couldn't see me. "Aunt Renee."

"What's the matter? Are you safe?" Aunt Renee rushed in worry. "Are my dear Charlie and Bella in danger?"

"No, aunt Renee, every one's safe," I quickly calmed her. "There is no danger, no more than usual, that is."

"You know this is a great risk, Aiden, and you're putting a lot of people in danger," Renee reprimanded.

"I know, auntie, I know." I sighed. "I just need some answers. Please."

"Aiden... I don't know..."

"Please, they're about Bella." That got her attention. It might have been a dirty trick, but it worked. I took her silence as a sign to continue. "Why did you really send Bella to Forks?"

"You know why."

"No, I only know what I've been told," I contradicted. "Not what is actually happening."

"All I will say is that Bella is much safer in Forks with Charlie than here with me in Arizona," replied Renee. "It's difficult to know whom to trust in a delicate situation such as this one where any mistake could cost lives."

"Fine, I'll let that one go for now. Why didn't you at least drop a hint that she would be here?" I asked. "You could warn a guy before he sees his baby cousin strutting into the lunch room and dozens of other guys staring at her. _Madonna mia!_"

Aunt Renee chuckled. "Oh really, Aiden. You are only a few months apart."

"Not the point, aunt."

"The reason I didn't tell you was because I thought it would be better if only a small handful of people knew," she answered. "Besides, in a small town such as Forks, I'm sure the news traveled around fast."

"You'd be surprised how much it didn't," I muttered. "I would have liked to know she was actually in town before I mentioned her to Edward..."

"Edward? Edward Cullen?"

I frowned at her tone of voice. "Yeah?"

There was a quiet mumble I could barely register. "So the Cullens are back in town..."

"Aunt Renee?" I questioned.

"Honey, I think that's all I can answer for now," she redirected my questioning tone. "Next time you call, make sure it's an emergency. A real one."

"_Si, si_." I nodded. "Take care, aunt Renee."

"You as well, Aiden." _Click_.

I put the cell phone back in the vault and fixed the portrait. Feeling suddenly exhausted, I let myself fall back against my bed and stared at the ceiling. So aunt Renee sent Bella here to Forks so she'd be safer from whatever the threat was. My thoughts turned blurry right about then. There was so much to think about. It was better to let it go, for now. No use getting a headache over it, right?

For about an hour or so, I laid on the bed doing nothing but staring at the ceiling. I may have dozed off because when I came to again, the sun was peeking through my bedroom window. The house was still quiet, like always. I guess that was one of the perks of being emancipated... Knowing where my mood was headed - to a dark place, mind you - I jumped up from the bed and to the training room to burn off some excess energy. I pulled myself up on the bar installed into the wall and spent most of my time doing pull ups.

The phone ringing in the hall interrupted my work out. Usually that would have pissed me off, but after today's events, I couldn't bother. I picked up on the fourth ring and was met with sweet Alice's voice. My first initial thought was pixie Alice calling in regards to Edward and our fighting. She had always been the peacemaker... and matchmaker. And troublemaker.

"Hey, Aiden." I couldn't help but smile at her cheerfulness.

"Evening, _querida_," I greeted her. "What may I do for you?"

"Well, now that you mention it." Uh oh. "There is something you can do for little ol' me."

"You'll just have to ask Edward the details of why we got into a fight," I blurted out.

"Oh, I will." Alice chuckled. "Even if I have to smack it out of him. Anyway, that's not the point."

"Pardon me, what was it that you needed, Alice?" I asked a little hesitantly.

"Dad's having this get together tonight with some old friends.. and mom is making this big deal about it, so we - I - thought that it would be less awkward if you joined us," Alice rushed out all in one breath. Silence preceded before she burst out, "Please?"

"What do your parents think about this?"

"Erm, I haven't exactly told them," she whispered. "But they adore you! They won't mind one bit. The more the merrier."

I sighed in defeat. I couldn't exactly say no to free food and having the chance to put Edward in his place. I mean, put things behind us. He was, after all, my best friend. That did not mean I was going to make it easy for him. Hell no. Since I'm at it, I'll make him pay a little bit. No harm in that, and I'm sure Alice or Rosalie wouldn't mind.

"Alright, I'll be there." I grinned. "What time?"

I heard her giggle quietly in the background. "One hour."

"_Naturalmente_."

"It'll be semi-formal!" she half-shouted excitedly. "See you soon, Aiden."

_Squee_. _Click_.

That was Alice for you.

I finished my sets and hopped into the shower quickly, a cold shower being exactly what I needed. The soothing water felt relaxing against my heated body and helped push off my bothersome thoughts to the back of my mind. What felt like five minutes actually turned out to be thirty minutes. I really could have cared less about my clothing, but I wouldn't want to give Esme or Carlisle a reason to kick me out for not being dressed properly to the occasion, especially since they did not invite me personally. I grabbed a light, tight fitting beige dress shirt with a tie already sewn in and some black Docker pants. Now, to keep it classy and casual: Chucks.

What could a guy do about hair? Nothing, really, so the only logical thing to do was give it a quick brush and let it fall where it may. I grabbed my jacket and keys, and was out the door with ten minutes to spare.

Seeing how I lived close to Port Angeles, it would take at least twenty minutes to arrive at the Cullens'. Fifteen, if I sped. Guys were not supposed to be fashionably late. It wasn't polite either, so I guess I was left with speeding. I had my contacts anyway...

Night had already began to fall outside and was well underway when I pulled out of the driveway. My thoughts were still retrained, and thank goodness for that or I would probably be fighting with myself. The roads were wet and empty, a usual occurrence at this time. There was only the green landscape and lush vegetation that was Forks, a rough contrast to my previous home in Italy. Saying it respectively, of course. Before I knew it, I was turning into the familiar winding road leading to the Cullen residence. Carlisle's Mercedes, Edward's Volvo and Emmett's Jeep were parked neatly in the garage, along with Esme's own SUV. However, the car that stunned me the most was the one parked right out in the front - a police car. My thoughts immediately jumped to the worst conclusion, naturally. I skidded to a stop right behind the cruiser and jumped out of the driver's seat and up the steps. I was ready to bust the door open when rationality smacked me upside the head. Why the hell was I overreacting? This is me, Aiden _badass_Corazon.

"Aiden, darling!" Esme's cheerful voice floated outside as she opened the door, a wide smile on her face. "What a pleasant surprise. Please, come in, come in."

Here I was, without even flowers to offer. Some gentlemen I am.

"Am I intruding?" Doesn't hurt to mind your manners. "Alice invited me at the last minute. I can go back home..."

"None of that, dear," Esme exclaimed with a smile. "You know we all love having you around." I glanced at the cruiser questioningly. "Not to worry, we're quite alright. We have some special company tonight."

Intrigued, I walked alongside Esme and met Emmet unusually groomed with Alice in a pretty yellow sundress. Edward, Carlisle and the special company were nowhere in sight. Soft laughter came in from the study at the top of the stairs. I took a seat on the couch and glanced at Alice, letting her know that she owed me for this.

"What up, Aiden?" Emmett grinned. "I see Alice dragged you into this, too."

"I did not drag him into this, thank you very much," Alice piped up. "He's actually a gentlemen and accepted my invitation willingly."

"Let's see how much of a gentlemen he is when he sees who our guests are." Emmett snickered.

"Children. Behave," Esme warned us.

Carlisle finally appeared at the top of the stairs, with his guests trailing behind. My mouth must have hit the floor when I saw whom they were. Then again, I probably should have guessed. The Chief of Police laughed happily as he descended the stairs dressed in a nice dress shirt and pants, followed by a much quieter Bella. Emmett's teasing suddenly made sense.

"Hey, uncle Charlie. Bella," I greeted them with a smile.

"Aiden?" Bella looked around confused.

"Well, hey there, kiddo." Charlie grinned. "Joining us for dinner?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alice dragged him into it," Emmett added in.

"Did not!" Alice pouted.

"Alright, children," Carlisle interrupted, throwing a stern look at Emmett. "Enough. We're just waiting on a couple of my colleagues, as well as the rest of the kids."

"Why don't we wait in the parlor?" Esme offered happily. "I'll start setting the table in the meantime. Alice, dear, would you help me?"

"Sure, mom." Alice smiled widely.

Bella glanced around nervously, throwing me a quick look, and stood up. "Allow me to help, Esme."

"Nonsense, dear." Esme smiled. "You're a guest."

"Please, it would be no trouble at all."

There was a reason why all the parents loved Bella - she was quite the charmer. Learned it all from me. I smirked softly at the fond look in Carlisle and Esme's eyes as they looked at my cousin. Why shouldn't they of course? They had more reason to even, besides her charming personality. I'm sure my aunt Renee was very well aware of that fact and had taken it into account when she thought of sending Bella here to keep her safe. Just as, I'm sure, Charlie was aware of, too. My mind buzzed with information that it was a miracle I did not go mad and blurt out everything. It was best to keep things a secret. Sometimes it was the best way to move forward.

I wondered if Bella knew...

"Aiden?" I snapped out of my musings and found Charlie staring at me.

"Sorry?"

"I asked if Bella was settling in alright at school."

I nodded. Minus the whole drama. "She is. Having Alice and Rosalie as friends helped. Although, I'm quite curious. Why hadn't you mentioned she was coming here?"

I probably shouldn't have asked that in front of the Cullens, but my mouth simply ran away with me. Charlie gave me a strange look and cleared his throat as if to draw attention away from my question. Carlisle shifted nervously in his seat. The act itself wasn't much, but something about the expression on his face caught my attention. It was almost suspicious. Or maybe I was simply being paranoid. With my past, it wasn't anything too shocking. Emmett threw me a small questioning glance.

"Bella's a kick ass girl, Chief," Emmett exploded with a grin.

"Emmett!" Carlisle nudged him warningly.

"What? She is!" Emmett laughed.

"Thank you." Charlie chuckled. "I believe she got that from her mother."

"I bet her.. mother.. misses her terribly," Carlisle spoke up softly. The tone of his voice raised another suspicious flag.

_Calm the hell down, Aiden. This is Carlisle we're talking about. He's a good guy. _

"Yes, Renee must be missing her." Charlie nodded. "Bella has spent pretty much all of her childhood with her mother."

Carlisle stared at Charlie in _remorse._

"Where does your ex-wife live, Chief Swan?" Emmet asked innocently.

A heavy pounding at the door interrupted the conversation before Charlie could respond. Alice waltzed out of the kitchen and streaked across the living room in excitement. Esme and Bella trailed after her, chatting quietly. There was an almost awkward silence between us before Esme came back with a couple of people behind her - two men and one woman. Carlisle's colleagues. Bella and Alice appeared next with two more guests - Jasper and Rosalie. I hated to admit, but everyone seemed to be dressed more formally than me.

"Everyone, this is Alistar Hamilton," Carlisle introduced, presenting the youngest looking man, then motioned to the other man and woman, "and Alexander and Holly McKinnon."

Esme finished the rest of the introductions and ushered us to the dining room. Carlisle and Esme sat at opposites sides while Charlie, Holly, Alexander, Alistar, Bella and I sat on the left side. Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice sat on the right. Edward was the only one missing.

"We're just waiting on my other son, Edward," Carlisle informed us as if reading my mind. "He was running late this afternoon."

"Not to worry, Carlisle." Holly McKinnon flashed an attractive, pearly white smile. "We're in no rush."

The food had already been set before us and the elegant decor only made it more appetizing. My stomach growled rather loudly at the thought and I found myself blushing in embarrassment. Edward better well get his ass home soon. Apparently the gods were with me on this one because not long after, I heard a car park in the garage, and a minute later the front door opened. Edward walked through the French double doors from the living room. Carlisle introduced him his colleagues - Alexander and Alistar - and coincidently sat him right in front of me. He flashed me an out of place cocky grin that made me want to pummel the guy. If we hadn't been at an important dinner for Carlisle, and Chief Swan, I would've hashed this thing out with Edward. However, it was then that he noticed the person right next to me and that grin fell right off his face. Bella gasped lowly and stared at him. Everyone continued on unaware of the intense staring game going on at the end of the table.

"Rosalie is it?" Holly spoke. "Have you ever aspired to be a model? You're gorgeous, dear."

Edward broke off first and glanced at Holly. His eyes flashed with a subtle protective flare. I understood perfectly and looked towards Rosalie. She froze for a second before smiling apprehensively and shook her head.

"Modeling isn't really my thing," Rosalie replied. "Too much glamour for my comfort."

"Oh my, dear." Holly chuckled. "You're perfect. You've got natural beauty and that can take you far if you let it."

"Holly, babe," Alexander cut in. "Leave the girl be."

"Pardon me." She smiled at everyone.

"Holly is head of Sapphire Modeling," Alexander explained. "She brings her work home."

We laughed politely and continued with our chattering. I gave Edward a warning glare to keep himself in check and piled food into my plate like nobody's business. It was about 30 minutes into the dinner when I started noticing something strange. Edward and Bella shifted in their seats every couple of seconds. Any trace of cockiness was wiped off Edward's face and a bright blush was on my cousin's cheeks. My eyes narrowed in suspicion. If I dared say so, it seemed as if they were doing something they were not supposed to. It was only when I felt a thunk against my shoe that I realized what was going on, and _Santa Maria_, did it take all of my will not to react in an irrational way.

"So, Edward," I began nonchalantly, "did you ever find your iPod?" I needed to distract myself, and them, from the fact that they were just playing footsies. I mean, really?

Bella choked on her drink. Alice dropped her spoon. Rosalie poked her cheek with her fork. Interesting reaction.

"I haven't, actually." He shrugged. I didn't fail to notice the subtle look he threw Bella. There was something I was missing, that was for sure.

_Ding. Ding._

Everyone looked up from their plates and around the table at the sound of the front door bell ringing. It was a little too late for there to be a salesmen at the door or visitors, especially in a small town such as this. Esme politely excused herself and exited the dining room. Not wanting to keep on watching these two, I excused myself as well and followed Esme.

"It's quite alright, dear." She smiled. "I've got the door."

"Now, what kind of gentlemen would I be, then?" I flashed her a bright smile. I truly meant it. I was raised a gentlemen by my parents, may they rest in peace. After all, I hadn't exactly been out right invited, so it was the least I could do.

Esme let out a quiet laugh and opened the front door. My eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the strawberry blond and wondered what the hell this girl was doing here. Tanya didn't even give me a second glance as she spoke directly to Esme. If I could take a guess, it looked like she was dressed up for a cocktail party.

"Hi, Esme. Sorry I'm late," she said sweetly. "You know my parents. Is Edward ready?"

Say what?

"Excuse me?" Esme raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I understand."

Tanya giggled. "Oh, Esme. Edward and I have a date tonight. Surely he didn't forget to tell you, did he?"

"No, he hadn't mentioned anything to neither of us," replied Esme. "I'm sorry you came all this way, dear, but Edward is not available tonight. He has other priorities at the moment."

It was either pure chance or just bad timing that Bella's laughter boomed from the kitchen and echoed across the corridor loud enough to be heard from outside. Immediately, I searched Tanya's face for any sign of recognition. If she realized who it was, she didn't show it. However, she did openly show displeasure at Esme's words and rolled her eyes slightly.

"Can I talk to him, then?" she asked. "It's the least yo-"

"Why don't you get Edward?" I interrupted quickly, throwing Tanya a stern look. "I'm sure they'll be missing you from the party, Esme."

"I'll get him." She nodded hesitantly. I heard her mutter quietly to herself, "That boy better not have done this on purpose."

Once I was sure Esme was out of earshot, I turned back to Tanya and stared at her. She fidgeted uncomfortably and burst out, "What?"

"Nothing, nothing." I shrugged. "I just thought Edward had broken up with you for cheating on him."

She gasped and looked behind my shoulder. "Aiden, how dare you? How can you say that to me? I'm your best friend's girlfriend."

"To clarify, I never liked you since you started dating my best friend," I stated. "The little bit of respect I actually had for you went down the drain when you started going behind Edward's back and hooking up with random guys. Do you think you kept that a secret?"

"I have not cheated on Edward!" she exclaimed loudly. "If anything, _he_has! With that girl, I'm sure of it!"

"Leave my cousin out of this," I nearly growled out. "I let the other guys go because I figured you'd do the right thing and talk it out with him, but when you started getting _serious_with that guy from Port Angeles High..."

"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"I think you need to leave, Tanya." Edward nudged me out of the way and stood in front of his ex-girlfriend. "I'm sorry I kissed you earlier and for confusing you, but we are broken up."

"No, guys like you don't break up with girls like me," sneered Tanya.

"Girls like you don't deserve guys like Edward."

Well, isn't this a party?

Bella's voice chimed in from behind us. She walked forward and stopped right next to me. "I don't know what you're problem is with me, but you need to get over it and leave."

Tanya let out a petulant grunt and stomped her foot. Without another word, she descended the front stairs and got into her car, slamming the door shut. Her car hummed to life and sped off rapidly into the dark driveway leaving a slight cloud of dirt behind. Everyone remained silent after that. Too silent for my liking. I turned around and caught Edward and Bella looking at each other. Before I even had the thought to interrupt them, Bella shifted her gaze to the floor.

"Edward, I can't.. I just can't with you right now," she muttered. "There is so much going on in my life and from what has happened already, this is just too much drama I cannot deal with at the same time as well."

"You don't even know me." Edward frowned. I looked away and scratched my head as the awkward bystander. "Please, Bella?"

Bella sighed softly and nodded. "Meet me tomorrow after school down at La Push beach. It seems there's a conversation long overdue."

I'll say.

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**Let me know what you think? If any of you are still reading this, that is. Now that are these "formalities" are out of the way, we're ready to get going. **

**~*~ Mimi-Love-4Ever**


	14. Chapter 13

**A faster update this time.**

_Recap of Chapter 12:_

_"No, guys like you don't break up with girls like me," sneered Tanya._

_"Girls like you don't deserve guys like Edward."_

_Well, isn't this a party?_

_Bella's voice chimed in from behind us. She walked forward and stopped right next to me. "I don't know what you're problem is with me, but you need to get over it and leave."_

_Tanya let out a petulant grunt and stomped her foot. Without another word, she descended the front stairs and got into her car, slamming the door shut. Her car hummed to life and sped off rapidly into the dark driveway leaving a slight cloud of dirt behind. Everyone remained silent after that. Too silent for my liking. I turned around and caught Edward and Bella looking at each other. Before I even had the thought to interrupt them, Bella shifted her gaze to the floor. _

_"Edward, I can't.. I just can't with you right now," she muttered. "There is so much going on in my life and from what has happened already, this is just too much drama I cannot deal with at the same time as well." _

_"You don't even know me." Edward frowned. I looked away and scratched my head as the awkward bystander. "Please, Bella?" _

_Bella sighed softly and nodded. "Meet me tomorrow after school down at La Push beach. It seems there's a conversation long overdue." _

_I'll say._

* * *

**Chapter 13**

_Bella's POV_

Things have gotten too out of hand already and that's why I had to straighten them out before it came back to bite me in the ass later. The catch was that I didn't have the liberty to explain everything, so I had to tread carefully. I had grown to trust these people enough to call them friends, but my number one priority was still to lay low and keep my cover. For the sake, and safety, of my mother and Charlie. After that unexpected phone call the night of the party, I hurried home and waited impatiently for Renee to explain. She did not call again, but simply sent a short text message: _Be extra vigilant from this point._

I spent hours trying to decipher the message and ended with wild, paranoid theories. She must have found something, or some sort of clue leading her closer to the person that had leaked all their confidential information.

Ever since I can remember, my mother had always been on guard, sometimes defensive, regarding her job. I always wondered why. It was just a job, right? Some of my classmates' parents were policemen, or lawyers, or teachers, yet I found out that Renee's job hadn't and still wasn't just a job. When I turned fourteen, instead of a surprise birthday party, she sat me down and explained in a nutshell why there had been so many changes in my life. From leaving my birthplace - Forks - to moving to Italy for thirteen years then to Arizona. Even then I had caught on to what she _hadn't_ said instead of what she did because most of it had been plain bullshit. For example, the reason she had left Charlie sixteen years ago was most definitely not because she had fallen out of love with him and living in a small town like Forks was suffocating her. My mother was a great actress, but she simply couldn't lie to me. The fact was that she still loved my dad. And my dad was still in love with her. It broke my heart when I had to lie to him and tell him of Renee's engagement to Phil. Said engagement was false, just a cover up. Phil was a businessmen that had been working alongside my mother for a few years now. The cover up was a necessary lie unfortunately.

I had been well aware that while I was in Forks I would need to maintain a low profile and keep mostly out of sight as to not draw attention to myself and my family. Then the Cullens and Hales happened. I was a goner, especially with those hypnotic emerald eyes. Edward's eyes. It felt like for the first time someone had looked at me, really looked at me. That day he had appeared underneath my window, and my tears had been running, I let him in. He had only been a stranger, but he made me feel so vulnerable that it caused my guard to drop for a split second. It was in that moment that he truly saw who I was - Bella, just Bella. Although it had been about a month since I'd seen him outside Charlie's house, I became attracted to him. It seemed we had danced around each other in such a short time. I decided I'd tell him what I was allowed and hoped nothing else got in the way because I was actually starting to like him. I was attracted to him in a way I had never been to any other boy my age. Honestly, it was frightening, but not enough to back away anymore.

That's why I was here now, after school, at La Push beach waiting for Edward to show up. Things last night were left a bit iffy, to say the least, with Tanya and everything. Aiden kept giving me a strange look every time he glanced over to me. I figured I would need to talk to him as well. Renee hadn't mentioned that he had moved to Forks right until he had actually called me a couple of days after I moved in. It was starting to look as if Forks, the most impossible of places, was becoming the place for coincidences.

I shook my head to snap out of my revere and concentrated on the little pathway my feet had taken me to. The surroundings looked familiar to me even though I hadn't been to this exact place. I found a large tree trunk embedded into the wet sand near the shore of the beach and sat down. It would have probably been a good idea to bring an umbrella since the sky looked about ready to unleash it's midday fury on us.

I waited in silence for a good hour and Edward was nowhere to be seen. I thought it rather strange since he's the one that was so keen on us meeting. I decided I'd wait another half hour before leaving. Could it have been that we really hadn't felt a connection like I thought we had? Maybe it had been all on me. I had been desperate for someone to listen to me.. _Stop thinking the worst, Bella_. A soft, nervous chuckle erupted from my throat as I chastised myself for being silly. I was acting as if I was about to tell Edward my whole life story - the real one - when that was not the case at all, so I shouldn't be worried. It seemed like forever had passed by when the sound of a smooth engine rolling by caught my attention. I turned towards the sound and caught a flash of silver heading down the road.

For some reason, the sight put a smile on my face. Minutes later, a head full of bronze locks appeared. The rest of him soon followed and I kind of hated myself for the beat my heart skipped. I most definitely wasn't a lovesick fool. However, that didn't stop me from watching him like a hawk as he walked down the wooden stairs towards the beach. He wore a casual attire - polo shirt and dark slacks - with a pea coat. His stance was straight and determined, yet his expression portrayed something different. I noticed a mischievous glint in his emerald eyes and a boyish smile on his face, which was a good sign, I think. I stood and brushed myself off and bit my bottom lip as he got closer.

"Hey.. Bella." Edward smiled warmly.

"Hi," I said shyly. I nearly rolled my eyes at the foolish-sounding tone of my voice.

"I guess I should apologize for being an ass the past couple of days, huh?" Edward ran his fingers through his hair.

I quirked an eyebrow. "Well, you were an ass, but you don't have to apologize... that much, anyway."

"Would it be too much to ask for if we canstart all over again?" I looked into this eyes and saw a flicker of fear. Was he afraid I'd say no?

I nodded. "I'd like that."

He stuck his hand out rapidly. I took it, laughing softly. "Edward Cullen at your service."

"Bella Swan." Short and sweet introduction. "I believe we still have a lot of explaining to do. Like, for example, why we haven't had a chance to talk before now."

"I never would have realized that it was you whom everyone had been murmuring about, especially Rosalie, Emmett and Alice," he replied. "Just leave it to Forks to shock you. I mean, I remember hearing that Chief Swan had a daughter, but none of us had ever seen you before."

"Yeah, I stayed with my mother mostly," I quickly answered and changed the topic. "Listen, about that day we met.." I started hesitantly. Did I really want to bring that up? He saw me crying, but he did end up falling off a tree, and he did steal a kiss. Not to mention he fell on me.

"Please tell me you don't regret it." He frowned.

"No, I don't," I reassured him. "Besides our unusual way of meeting, I.. I'm glad I met you."

His cheeks pooled with red unexpectedly, making my heart skip another beat. Was he blushing? Huh, that certainly was an interesting reaction.

"I shouldn't have stolen that kiss from you, it was improper," apologized Edward. He must have seen something in my expression because he quickly added, "Not that I regret doing it."

Now it was my turn to blush.

"Moving on," I breathed out. "About Aiden and me, he's just my cousin and that's that."

"Yeah, Aiden.." He looked away.

"You're still not angry with him, are you?" I asked curiously.

"It was just a misunderstanding." He shrugged. For some reason, his response bothered me. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it did.

"Like Tanya." The words slipped out of my mouth. Tanya served to remind me of the melodrama that accompanied teenagers and high school. Drama that I couldn't exactly afford right at this moment. And Edward seemed to be surrounded by it. Looking at Edward now, it hit me that I would have to hide my growing feelings for him and I might never be able to take the chance to explore any possibility.

"She's not my girlfriend anymore," he said. "She hasn't been for a while."

"I know, I know, but the fact is that I can't allow myself to get involved with anyone right now," I tried explaining without my voice shaking. "There's things going on with my family that are taking up all my time and attention, and I don't think it'd be fair to you... if we did get involved."

"Do you want to?" he asked softly.

Do I tell him that yes, I want nothing more than to explore this strange feelings I'm beginning to have for him? Or do I walk away with a semi-clean break and just keep us as acquaintances? Either way would end up hurting. I just needed to pick the one that wouldn't hurt the most.

I sighed quietly. "It's not you, it really isn't. It's me."

Hurt flashed across his face at my words, which was covered by a look of indifference in seconds. "Okay, I get it. I'll see you around then."

Edward turned around without another word and started walking back the same way he had come from. I had to stop myself from reaching out and just pulling him back towards me. I hated to see the way his steps were heavy and kicking against the sand, his hands in his pocket and his head cast down._ I'm sorry, Edward_. It kind of hit me that this, too, would eventually happen with all my newfound friends. It was only because I had grown attached that I couldn't shake them off just yet.

Well, that went fantastic. Not at all horrible.

"_Bella!_" someone called my name. I turned around and rolled my eyes. "Back on my rez, huh?"

Jacob Black was strolling towards me looking quite confident. This time around he wasn't with his posse. I did not need another conversation with him right now, or I might just flip him again. Instead of responding, I began walking away and concentrated on the strange sense of despair setting in.

"Now, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Cullen!" he shouted, making me stop in my tracks. Stalker, much? "You did well. You wouldn't want to get involved with the Cullens anyway, or the company they keep."

"Stop talking bullshit, Black, and go away." I gritted my teeth in annoyance.

I heard him running up to me. Maybe I will flip him.

"Bullshit? So you don't know about the accident then? Or Victoria?" He smirked. "I figured Blondie would've told you since you seem to be close friends now. I mean, who would tell anyone that story?"

It went against my better judgment to listen to anything he might say, but I'd be damned if I wasn't a tiny bit curious. "What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded. "Rosalie doesn't need to tell me anything if she doesn't want to."

He shrugged. "I know _I_ wouldn't want to be hanging around a criminal."

Now he had my full attention.

"I see she didn't tell you about that, judging by the look on your face. I mean, you simply don't go around telling your friends you're a murderer."

Before I could ask what he meant, Edward's angry face loomed into view and pushed Black forcefully, getting in between us. I stepped back cautiously and confused. "You shut your mouth, mutt!"

Jacob Black laughed and stood face-to-face against Edward, rivaling him almost. "Or what?"

"Or I'll make you regret it," Edward said warningly, a dark tone to his voice.

"See you around, Bella," Jacob spoke nonchalantly. He remained still for a couple of seconds before backing down and taking a couple of steps back. He looked past Edward to me and had the nerve to wink.

What the hell?

I waited until Jacob Black was completely out of the area to speak. I grabbed Edward by the shoulder and turned him around to face me. The expression on his face was murderous and even managed to strike a bit of fear inside me. However, that wouldn't stop me from asking anything, especially after what Black had said. Lie... or truth.

"Why did he say that, Edward?" I asked seriously. "What the hell did he mean by that?"

"Let it go, Bella," he whispered in response. "Please."

"No!" I exclaimed. "He just called Rosalie a murderer. A _murderer_! I may not have known Rosalie for that long, but I still consider her a close friend."

"I said let it go," whispered Edward. I was taken aback by his indifferent attitude all of a sudden, which only served to peak my curiosity. There was definitely something going on and by the accusations being thrown around, it had to be pretty serious. Unless Edward was in on whatever the situation was.. My mind was spinning rapidly and in every direction possible that I didn't realize Edward had walked away once more, leaving me alone on the beach. I silenced all thought and regained my senses before running after him, but by the time I reached him, he was already in his car. The last thing I saw of Edward was him putting his phone by his ear and the back of his Volvo speeding away.

I made my back to my car and retrieved my cell phone, dialing Rosalie's number in a flash. It rang three times before going voicemail. I redialed and was taken to voicemail again. After two more tries, it went straight to voicemail. I was beginning to get worried. I hopped into the car and made up my mind to head over to Rosalie' could be that I was completely overreacting to the situation, but I needed to know. Or at least settle this. I tried Rose's one more time, hoping I would get through. When it didn't go straight to voicemail, I sighed in relief and waited impatiently for her to pick up. On the last ring, she did.

"... Bella?"

A million questions got stuck in my throat at the sound of her voice. I didn't get a chance to ask any, though. The next thing I knew, a loud whine cut through the call and the car trembled dangerously. In the time it took to blink, I was being flung to the side and pushed against metal. I screamed in pain and dropped the phone.

"Bella?"

Rosalie calling my name was the last thing I remembered before I was knocked unconscious.

* * *

**So, let me know what you think. Thank you for reading.**

**Until next chapter. **

**~*~ Mimi-Love-4Ever**


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